Funds for reconstruction of schools sought

MANSEHRA: Contractors, who were declared successful in the bidding process for reconstruction of 760 schools destroyed in the 2005 earthquake, took to the streets, to demand the government to release funds here on Tuesday.

“We have been awarded contracts for the reconstruction of 160 schools in 2016 but we are still waiting for the release of that funds,” Arshad Khan, the president of contractors association, told reporters following the protest outside the Communication and Works Department here.

The contractors holding banners and placards raised slogans in support of their demands. Arshad said the provincial government had awarded the contracts in the year 2016 and they deposited Rs90 million as call deposits but they were still awaiting the release of the funds.

Another contractor, Shahzada Qamar, said that the government should honour its contract with contractors and release the funds as per the agreement, otherwise they would mobilise their associations across the province for protests. He said that in many schools, work was about to finish but left incomplete because of non-availability of funds. “Almost three years have passed to our agreement with KP government, but we are still awaiting the release of funds, which shows its lack of interest in the education sector,” said another contractor, Mudassir Shah.