ISPR clarifies misunderstanding over FWO-NHA issue
20 September, 2012
RAWALPINDI: A spokesman of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Wednesday stated that in compliance with the directives of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) had paid Rs 284 million to the National Highway Authority (NHA) on account of toll collected in July 2012. He said that certain aspects related to the issue were not being projected correctly in the media. He explained that according to the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contract of the Motorway, NHA was required to pay O&M charges to FWO, as soon as it had received the toll collected by the latter. However, NHA had stopped the payments in March 2008, he said, adding that payments on other projects executed by FWO in different parts of the country were also withheld by NHA on account of non-availability of funds. Resultantly, FWO's liability against NHA had risen to Rs 13.1 billion by July 2012, which also included bills pending since 2007, he said. Such huge liabilities were severely affecting projects at hand and FWO's sustainability as a national organisation, he added. End.
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