Back to square one: AJK to re-tender Jagran power project

Earlier contract awarded to Chinese firm cancelled amid reports of irregularities.

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government will re-award contract for the establishment of the 48-megawatt Jagran phase-II hydel power project.

The contract, which was previously awarded to a China Water and Electricity company in a joint venture with a Pakistani construction firm, was cancelled without any reasons by the government.

Sources in the government, however, told The Express Tribune that the earlier contract was mired by allegations of financial irregularities from initial documentation to the tendering.

AJK Power Development Organisation Minister Chaudhry Yaseen said the new tendering process will be completed in six months. “The contract of 48-megawatt Jagran phase-II hydel power project will be awarded through transparent bidding to an international firm and the project will be completed in 40 months,” he said.

French Agency for Development will provide a soft loan of 68 million Euros for the power project.

The power house would be constructed at Jagran stream, a tributary of Neelum River in Neelum district. The project is also expected to create employment opportunities for more than 600 people of AJK.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2rd, 2015.