Delayed for years because of design and funds, the mega Zero Point Interchange (ZPI) project, costing Rs 2.3 billion, is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday (September 11), Zero Point Interchange Project Director Mumtaz Hussain told Business Recorder here on Tuesday.
He said that it was supposed to be inaugurated on Wednesday, but due to some security reasons, there had been a delay for one day. On the other hand, contractors Messers Maqbool Associates, a Karachi-based company, has already moved in modern machines on the site along with labourers, who had started construction work a few weeks back.
According to reliable sources, the reason of delay in the inauguration of the project was that the Prime Minister had expressed serious reservation over the huge increase in project cost, irregularities in award of contract due to which the matter was taken to the Islamabad High Court (IHC). "However, a few days back the civic body moved a summary to the Prime Minister regarding the issue due to which he agreed to inaugurate the project", sources said.
Sources further told this scribe that a French firm had prepared the PC-I of the project in 1997, but that was rejected by the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Later, it was put aside five times because of some technical flaws and political interference that left the project in doldrums. The authority also had wasted millions of rupees to have different designs made by different firms.