ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and Capital Administration and Development Division was informed on Wednesday that the national exchequer was incurring loss of Rs 2 million per day due to delay in the completion of new Islamabad International Airport (IIAP).
A senior official of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told the committee, which met here with Talha Mehmood in the chair, that the airport was to be completed in 2010 at a cost of Rs 37 billion. The cost had now increased to Rs 81 billion, he added.
The official said that 82 per cent construction work had been completed.
Senator Talha Mehmood observed that the national exchequer was suffering loss of billions of rupees due to poor planning.
The committee also reviewed matters pertaining to new Gwadar International Airport project and old Gwadar Airport.
The CAA official told the committee that the renovation of existing Gwadar Airport would be completed within one month at the cost Rs 51.66 million. Big flights were unable to land at the old Gwadar Airport due to small runway.
The body directed the CAA to ensure modern facilities at the old Gwadar Airport for passengers.
The official told the committee that modern facilities would being ensured at the new airport, to be constructed on 4300 acres of land. The construction work on the new airport would started in November this and it would be completed within 32 months at a cost of Rs 30 million.
Three Chinese companies had been selected for the construction of the airport, he added.
The official also briefed the body on the construction of Ramma and Kissana dams, saying that the construction of dams would be completed within eight months after acquisition of land.
The meeting was attended by Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini, Ms. Najma Hameed and Haji Saif-ullah Khan Bangash.
