Model Town residents still without promised community centre

[LRE]

Model Town residents still without promised community centre

* Only basement of Rs 270 million five-star centre was started, but is now flooded and work has stopped
* MTS acting president says contractors given deadline of August 30, 2009

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The much-awaited, five-star community centre for Model Town residents has been put on hold due to the ongoing monsoon rains, Model Town Society (MTS) officials told Daily Times on Wednesday.

An official said that a Faisalabad-based firm had been given the contract for the Rs 270 million project, the first of its kind in the city. He said the construction started 45 days later than scheduled and the contractors had only dug up the basement for the 80,000-square-feet community centre before rains flooded it.

The official said that these days, labourers were spending most of their time pumping water out of the construction site with equipment that the MTS administration had provided them. The project was scheduled to be completed in 18 months, but critics believe that it will take longer because of the constructors’ speed.

According to MTS officials, the centre would serve as a community centre like Gymkhana and Defence Club. It would have all modern facilities, such as a bowling alley, a swimming pool, party areas, restaurants etc. The project’s cost was initially estimated at Rs 210 million, but due to the ongoing rapid price hike, the cost has rocketed to Rs 270 million. The officials said that the administration was expecting further increase in the cost.

Deadline: MTS Acting President Nawab Tahir Ali Khan told Daily Times that the administration had given the contract of the centre’s construction to the bidder charging the lowest, but delay in the construction could make the administration reconsider the decision on the contract. He said the administration had given the contractors the deadline of August 30, 2009. He added that the MTS administration had the right to cancel the contract if it did not find the work satisfactory. He said the society could not afford any more delay in light of the constantly rising prices.

Khan said the centre would provide five-star facilities to visitors and would have the capacity to cater to 3,000 visitors at a time. He added that the space could be increased to cater to another 1,500 visitors if needed.

He said the centre would have the facility to hold all kinds of parties and events, from get-togethers to marriages. He said District Nazim Main Amer Mehmood had inaugurated the construction on June 27.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg13_2