NHA’s bidding process raises eyebrows

A subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Tuesday expressed its dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency in the National Highway Authority’s (NHA) contracts-awarding process and sought the authority’s explanation about the same.

Convener of the committee Senator Saifullah Abro said the summary provided by the authority’s officials regarding the contracts system, pre-qualification and the bidding process was not substantiated by documents.

Irked by the NHA’s failure to explain the rationale behind its decision to award the contract to a disqualified company in Lakhi–Naudero–Larkana project, he asked the authority’s representatives whether they were aware of the fact that such dubious practices were called ‘nepotism’.

“You kept giving tenders to the same companies again and again,” Senator Abro said while reviewing the NHA’s contracts. “How come a company, which has been rejected as qualified in one project, manages to qualify for an award in another?” he asked.

The convenor of the sub-committee also criticised Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood for not showing up at the meeting. Irate over the way state of affairs was being run at the ministry, Senator Abro quipped that a man who knew nothing about engineering was ironically at the helm of affairs.

“If the minister for communications took the pains of attending the briefings here, he might benefit and learn a thing or two.”

The subcommittee also reviewed various projects undertaken by the National Highway Authority and expressed displeasure over the projects that have hit snags amid cost overruns.

The meeting was informed that the initial construction cost of the Larkana-Mohenjodaro road was Rs1300 million.

The convener of the sub-committee noted that around Rs1529 million have been spent on the project but the road was still incomplete and also called into question the authority’s decision to ignore the lowest bidder.

“You rejected a bidder but cannot explain on what merit. Why did you not bring the documents you keep referring to?”

The convenor also grilled the authority for not coming prepared for the meeting, stressing that it had been asked to appear before the panel after preparations. “Why is the NHA reluctant to provide the rules under which it selects the bidders?” he asked.

It may be recalled here that during its last meeting held on Wednesday, the subcommittee had reviewed the completed and ongoing projects by the NHA and directed the ministry to provide a detailed summary of the pre-qualification and bidding process.

The convener had then also stressed the need for the pre-qualification process to be transparent and for bids to be awarded on merit, and called for following international standards.