Contractors demand release of pending dues

CHITRAL: The All Contractors Association here on Friday asked the provincial government to release their pending dues or else they would be compelled to stage a protest. Speaking at a press conference at the Chitral Press Club here, the president of the association Syeduddin and others said that the contractors had been working to execute uplift projects in Chitral but they had not received a single penny over the last one year.Subhanuddin, Sadiq Ahmad, Lala Akbar, Taj Rasul, Fazal Hadi and other members of the association were present on the occasion. They said that the contractors were working on development projects, but they had not received the money, which was adding to their financial problems. The contractors said that they would go bankrupt if the provincial government did not release the money.

They said that work on almost 90 percent of the uplift projects in Chitral was complete, but still the government had not given them the money. The members of the association said that the relevant departments had time and again asked the Finance Department to issue the funds, but to no avail. They said that the contractors were facing a host of problems, asking the relevant authorities to pay heed to their sufferings or else they would be left with the only option to stage a protest.