The government had released more than Rs. 1 billion for several mega-projects throughout the city, according to a top official from the RDA. But because the RDA was unable to start the projects, the money remained in its accounts, and the temporary administration asked the authority for it back.
The official said that after the Punjab Assembly elections, the new government would decide how the projects would turn out, and the funding would be distributed.
On the other hand, a top Punjab government official claimed that the interim administration was merely set up to run the province’s daily operations until fresh elections and that it lacked the power to propose or fund new developmental initiatives. The official also said that no construction projects may begin in the district after the by-election schedule was made public.
The municipal organisation has asked the finance division to disburse the funds for these “ongoing initiatives,” according to a key RDA official. According to the spokesman, the RDA was prepared to start these three projects, but the Punjab finance department has not yet reacted.
According to Saif Anwar Jappa, the RDA Director General (DG), the interim ministry withdrew funds for new projects.
He continued by stating that the RDA had published an advertisement in a newspaper in Dubai to solicit applications for independent third-party verification of the alignments and that they intended to brief the interim provincial Chief Minister (CM), Mohsin Naqvi, on the Rawalpindi Ring Road the following week. If the caretaker CM concurs, Jappa continued, the RDA will select a consultant firm, and the project will start following the formation of a new government in the ensuing fiscal year.
