QUETTA: Contractor Jamil Ahmed, has called on authorities to withdraw six percent BRA’s tax deduction from the contractors and instead the deduction of six percent tax be included in the Project Cycle (PC-I) of the scheme, withdraw ban imposed on release of funds and escalation be granted on ongoing and old development schemes.

Addressing a press conference with contractor Muhammad Akbar and others, he said that Balochistan was a backward province and owing to non-availability of factories in the province, raw materials for development schemes were brought from other provinces of the country. Composite Schedule Rates (CSR) were revised after every six months in all other provinces of the country, but in Balochistan CSRs framed during the year 2018 was still being followed, he regretted.

He called on authorities to withdraw six percent Balochistan Revenue Authority (BRA)’s tax deduction from the contractors of the province and instead the deduction of six percent tax be included in the project cycle (PC-I) of the scheme, withdraw ban imposed on release of funds and escalation be granted on ongoing and old development schemes.

He said if demands of the contractors of Balochistan were not entertained, contractors of the province would be compelled to stop construction work of ongoing development schemes which would leave people affiliated with construction work jobless. On the occasion contractors Shakeel Lehri, Saboor Kakar and Haji Noor Muhammad were also present.