Unpaid dues: Ration supply cut off to jails in Balochistan

The Express Tribune

Ration supply to nine prison facilities and judicial lockups in Balochistan has been suspended by contractors over nonpayment of bills, which have soared to Rs21million. According to All Contractors Association Central Jails spokesperson, Sikandar Zehri, the prison department owes an amount of Rs21 million to the contractors, which accumulated over a period of three years.

“We reminded the department about the outstanding amount but it did not pay any attention which prompted us to suspend the ration supply to nine prisons and judicial lockups in Naushki, Gwadar, Jaffarabad, Kohlu, Duki, Barkhan and Qila Saifullah districts,” Zehri claimed while talking to The Express Tribune. Issuing a stern warning, Zehri said that the suspension of ration supply to prison facilities will continue “until our dues are cleared”. Taking a swipe at prison officials, Zehri said, “The Inspector General (IG) Prison Department Balochistan makes us wait for several hours and refuses to meet us.” According to sources in the jail department, a payment of Rs7 hundred thousand was made to contractors of Quetta and Mastung jails. However, the department does not have the funds to clear the outstanding bill of Rs21million. The contractors association cautioned that they will suspend the supply to all jails in Balochistan, if their dues were not cleared within a few days. Meanwhile, despite several calls, IG Prison Department was not available for comment.