The Punjab provincial government has refused to provide funds for multi-million District Assembly Complex and asked the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) to construct this multi-story building on its own.
The CDGR has limited resources and it would not be able to launch such a huge project without the support of provincial government, sources said on Tuesday.
They said that the provincial government, under Local Government Ordinance 2002 get the main chunk of resources and very little amount was given to CDGR which is not sufficient even to run the day to day affairs. Without the financial assistance under Provincial Finance Commission (PFC), CDGR is not in a position to pay the salaries of its staff, they said.
In spite of hectic efforts by City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas, all treasury and opposition members of the District Assembly have failed to start work on District Assembly Complex, as no paper work has been started so far.
The CDGR has no office complex and not only do the people but also the officials of the district government are facing problems in discharging their duties. The offices of Nazim, Naib Nazim and all EDOs are housed in different buildings creating a lot of problems for officials and visitors.
Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Naib Nazim of CDGR and Convenor of the District Assembly in previous session of the district Council had stated that the government has acquired 10 kanals of land for constructing a multi-story complex housing District Assembly Hall, Secretariat for CDGR, offices for Provincial Ombudsman and a parking plaza.
Javed Ikhlas, City District Nazim, soon after assuming charge he reiterated that he would start construction of the office complex but after two years, nothing visible has been done.