RAWALPINDI: The Project Management Unit (PMU) for Rawalpindi Ring Road project has been shut down and the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will formally be taking charge to supervise the project from Monday (today).

RDA Director General Kinza Murtaza told Dawn that the PMU officials had resigned and the civic body would formally be taking charge of supervising the project from December 2.

She said the project record had been handed over to the RDA by the PMU.

She said the PMU was formed in 2019 and the caretaker government also continued with it.

However, Ms Murtaza said the government had now realised that the RDA was the executing agency and instead of spending extra money on PMU officials’ salaries and expenditure, the RDA officials would deal with all financial and land acquisition matters of the project.

She said the RDA had appointed its engineering and financial department officials to supervise the project instead of the PMU.

The RDA director general said: “The project payments would not stop and as soon as we get funds, we will release the money and check whether the contractor was working as per plan or not.”

She said the engineering department would monitor the project on a daily basis, adding that the Punjab government had directed that the quality of work should be ensured and the project completed within the stipulated time frame.

She said the completion date might be extended till September 2025 as per recommendation of the federal government to ensure quality of work. She said more than 40pc work had been completed so far while the revised PC-I which had escalated the project would be approved by the Central Development Working Party and Executive Committee of Economic Council (Ecnec) soon. — Staff Reporter