Metrobus project: More delays: All three firms fail to qualify

CDA spokesperson says process to be re-initiated.

ISLAMABAD:

The Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA) has stunned city managers with the announcement that none of the three firms shortlisted as consultants for a bus rapid transit (BRT) system for the twin cities qualified for the project.

“The whole process is shrouded in mystery,” said an official of the planning wing. In October, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was informed by the PMA that three firms qualified for the project after their technical proposals were evaluated by a committee, he added. “One of these three firms was to be selected after evaluation of their financial bids.”

This development was also covered by the national media in October. He said now the PMA has backtracked, stating that during the evaluation process none of the three firms secured passing marks on their technical proposals required to qualify for the project.



The successful firm was supposed to conduct traffic modelling and feasibility study for an integrated mass transit system for Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The three firms, Mott MacDonald of the United Kingdom, ILF Consulting Engineers of Austria and Nespak, were selected after a pre-bid conference at Lahore which was attended by representatives of interested firms.

The selected firms were asked to submit technical and financial proposals for the project. The technical proposals of these firms were evaluated by a six-member technical committee with representatives from the CDA, PMA and other departments of the Punjab government.



“Earlier, they delayed the process of opening financial bids of three firms as the committee chief was abroad,” the official added.

However, whatever the reasons for the disqualification of all three firms, the process of developing a decent transport facility for the twin cities’ residents is sure to be further delayed.

When contacted CDA spokesperson Asim Khichi said none of the firms qualified as they failed to get the required 70 per cent marks on their technical proposals. The process will be re-initiated, he added.

In an earlier development, city managers had aborted their plan for a BRT project for the capital and started work on an integrated mass transit system for the twin cities in collaboration with the PMA.

The pre-feasibility study of the BRT project for the capital had been completed with the help of the Asian Development Bank, but it was scrapped after Punjab’s bureaucracy came up with the idea of an integrated mass transit system for Rawalpindi and Islamabad, following the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government’s installation in the centre.

The project was initiated by the CDA during the outgoing year of the previous government. The CDA board had also approved the Rs7.5 billion BRT project for Islamabad on February 19, for which the ADB was willing to fund a detailed feasibility study.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2013.