Safe City Authority Roiled By A Funding Crunch.

LAHORE: The rift between Punjab Safe City Authority and the Finance Department has deepened over the provision of funds despite the intervention by the Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar to resolve the issue through the home department.

The Finance Department had put forth a condition that the Punjab Home Department must put forward a summary submitted by the Safe City Authority for the release of funds. However, the Safe City Authority has failed to submit it despite clear orders from the government authorities.

The finance department has offered quarterly payments of Rs644 million every three months for the safe city project; however, no response has been received from the Home Department regarding the offer. Sources said that the Finance Department has not issued a supplementary budget. It has in fact released funds for the safe city authority through the home department’s block allocation.
Currently, the Home Department has Rs4 billion funds in block allocation. If any scheme comes up after the budget announcement, these funds can be used for the completion of that scheme.

As per the sources in Punjab Finance Department, Safe City Authority was sent a letter to inquire about their annual budget demand to include it in the annual provincial budget however the department received no response from the authority.