The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO-the main contractor of Gomal Zam Dam-has awarded subcontract to the Chinese company, that abandoned the work on the dam after kidnapping of two of its engineers and subsequently killing one of them, sources told Business Recorder on Monday.
Some 30 Chinese engineers have arrived to resume the work on main dam as the Planning Commission (PC) is expecting the completion of the reservoir by the end of the 2007-08, sources said. Another subcontract was awarded to Texar, a Turkish firm, which will be responsible for all works other than the structure of main dam.
The sources, however, refused to divulge any detail whether the two sub-contractors were awarded the contracts on increased rates as the contract cost of the dam has increased by around 150 percent from Rs 4 billion to Rs 10 billion.
The cost of the same contract was Rs 4 billion, as agreed between the Chinese company and the government, the sources said. The kidnapping and subsequent killing of one of the Chinese engineers had forced the company to abandon work on the dam in 2004.
The concerned authorities including the Planning and Development (P&D) Division and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) have agreed to enhance the contract cost. The overall cost of the project has also been increased from Rs 12 billion to Rs 15 billion, the sources said.
According to the PC-I, the project, being built on Gomal River in South Waziristan Agency, was to be completed by June 2006. Due to abandoning of the work by the Chinese company, the project completion has been delayed.
The sources said that since the contract was awarded to the Chinese company in 2002, its cost was kept at Rs 4 billion. Now the prices of required construction material have soared, therefore, the new contract was reviewed afresh. The government also wants to provide fool proof security by the Pakistan Army to the Chinese engineers and this require more security of personnel to be deployed there.
Even the Chinese company was seeking an additional allocation of $25 million after it had started construction work on the dam, according to the sources.
Around 98 percent work has been completed on design, 16 percent on dam, spillway, and over 14 percent work on distributaries. There is no detail whether the amount already spent by the Chinese company would be included in the cost calculated afresh for work resumption on the project.
The sources said that the government turned down the demand of increase in allocation for the project by the Chinese company but the same was accepted for the FWO. They said that prices of required materials had not witnessed big hike in the last two or three years, which could have enhanced the project cost by 150 percent.
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