HYDERABAD, Sept 14: The district nazim has expressed concern over a delay in release of the Sugar Cess Development Fund by the district accounts office and called a meeting of the nazims of affected union councils and the accounts officials on Wednesday to discuss the problem.

The district nazim, Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman, was presiding over a meeting at his office here on Monday to review development schemes of the union councils of Hyderabad (rural) and Tando Mohammad Khan talukas through allocations made by the district government in the fiscal years of 2002-3 and 2003-4 and development proposals for 2004-5.

He said that delaying tactics in the release of the funds had badly affected work on the development schemes being funded under the Sugar Cess Development Fund in the district.

He said that the union councils of Saeed Matio and Bulri Shah Karim had been badly affected as only two out of 16 schemes had been completed in the union councils. Besides, other union councils had also been partially affected, he added.

However, the district nazim assured the councillors that the problem would be got resolved through the office concerned. He said that in order to ensure quantity and quality of development works, it had been decided that work orders of the schemes would be supplied to the nazim of each union council and they would monitor ongoing works and issue certificates on completion of development works before payment to the contractors.

Dr Rafiquzzaman asked the nazims of the union councils to submit new development schemes against the allocation of Rs1.3 million for each union council by September 20.

He informed the meeting that the district government, by dropping a road scheme of Hyderabad taluka, had saved Rs6 million and added that the amount would be equally utilized in each union council of the taluka.

As such, he asked the nazims of the union councils to submit development proposals up to the cost of Rs500,000 each by September 25 to utilize the amount. Giving details of the union councils' ongoing development schemes carried out by the district government, he said that 71 out of 135 schemes launched during 2002-2003 under the allocation of Rs3.7 million for each union council had been completed in Hyderabad and Tando Mohammad Khan talukas.

He said that 50 out of 91 schemes of Tando Mohammad Khan taluka and 18 out of 40 schemes of Hyderabad (rural) taluka, in addition to three out of four extra schemes in Hyderabad taluka, had been completed.

Besides, tenders for 13 schemes of Hyderabad taluka and 26 of Tando Mohammad Khan taluka had been issued against the annual allocation of Rs1.3 million for each union council during the current financial year.

The nazim also informed the meeting that Rs90 million had been earmarked by the district government to carry out repair and maintenance schemes and for shelter less schools development programme in the district.

He said that under the programme, five out of 18 repair and maintenance schemes and 10 of shelter less schools development programme had been completed in Hyderabad taluka and 20 out of 25 repair and maintenance schemes and seven out of nine schemes of shelter less schools development programme in Tando Mohammad Khan taluka.

He said that he had asked the management of the education works department to submit a list of shelter less and repairable schools. Taluka Nazim of Tando Mohammad Khan, Syed Irshad Ali Shah, the nazims of the union councils of Hyderabad and Tando Mohammad Khan talukas, the EDO of works and services and other officers concerned attended the meeting.