CPEC road projects hit snags as NHA defaults on payments

The seven affected contractors holding bounced cheques include SKB, ZKB, Noman Construction, ACGC Chinese, Sardar Ashraf D Baloch, China Railway 17 Group and Matracon.

The sources said that not only the CPEC projects but local industries related to construction and a large workforce of engineers and labourers have also been hit by the situation.

When contacted, NHA spokesman Kashif Zaman said the authority issued cheques of Rs5bn on June 29 to the firms against sanctions by the government.

According to him, cheques totalling Rs1.5bn were cleared the same day while “the remaining cheques, deposited the next day, could not be cleared”.

The issue, said Zaman, has been taken up with the government, and a quick resolution is anticipated.

Dispelling doubts that the CPEC projects would be delayed if things remained as they were, the NHA spokesman, however, denied the progress on any project having been affected – including the Hazara Motorway and other sections.

"Most of the projects undertaken", said he, "would be completed on schedule, by December 2018."