CPEC body to buy bullet-proof car

New Land Cruiser is in addition to a pool of such vehicles bought for protection

ISLAMBAD:

 

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) secretariat has decided to buy a bullet-proof vehicle at a cost of Rs95 million to provide security to Chinese nationals, as it said the Cabinet Division could not meet its pressing needs, resulting in the cancellation of important official engagements.

The new Toyota Land Cruiser 3,500cc vehicle will be in addition to a pool of such vehicles and at least two helicopters that various government departments have either bought or are in the process of buying for the protection of Chinese nationals who are vulnerable to attacks. Due to high risks, Chinese nationals are not allowed to travel in non-bullet-proof vehicles.

The bullet-proof vehicle is being bought only for the security of Chinese nationals, whose protection is the primary responsibility of the government of Pakistan, said Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The government will buy the vehicle through direct contracting with a dealer of the local assembler by invoking rule 42-c (vii) of the Public Procurement Rules.

The CPEC secretariat did not have the required funds to procure the vehicle. The planning ministry arranged money to place the order by June 30 by diverting Rs58.3 million from different projects. However, the order could not be placed due to a delay in securing requisite approvals by the close of the fiscal year.

The vehicle will be bought against the CPEC secretariat project, which justified the purchase by stating that whenever vehicles were requisitioned from the Cabinet Division, there was frequent non-availability due to limited fleet and high demand. It stated to the planning ministry that non-availability was resulting in delays, rescheduling and, at times, cancellation of important official engagements, particularly those involving foreign delegations.

The CPEC secretariat is responsible for smooth coordination and monitoring of projects under CPEC, but there is no full-time project director and the work is being assigned to a junior officer.

The project management argued that for effective discharge of its responsibilities, availability of reliable official transport was indispensable. It added that Chinese delegations and technical personnel frequently visit the CPEC secretariat and project sites for meetings, inspections and coordination purposes.

This year, Pakistan and China are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, during which high-level Chinese delegations are expected to visit Pakistan in connection with CPEC-related engagements and commemorative activities.

Official documents showed that due to limited availability of vehicles, the secretariat was facing serious difficulty in extending timely transport facilitation to visiting delegations, which adversely affects operational efficiency and protocol commitments.

Arrangement of vehicles from the open market was also not feasible on a regular basis, as such arrangements were uncertain and were made at exorbitant rental rates, which were neither cost-effective nor sustainable and placed an avoidable financial burden on the public exchequer.

The secretary planning had asked to "seek the advice from the cabinet division on the manner of purchase of bullet proof vehicle and process to be followed and approvals to be obtained for that."

The secretary cabinet was not available for comments.

Three dealers of Indus Motors submitted quotations with nominal price differences, and the government accepted the quotation of M/s Toyota Central Motors, which offered to sell the vehicle at Rs95.049 million. M/s Toyota Society gave a quotation of Rs95.45 million, and M/s Toyota Port Qasim gave a quotation of Rs95.25 million.

The government used the alternative methods of procurement under rule 42 of the PPRA rules and will buy the vehicle through direct contracting by invoking rules related to the purchase of cars. The Central Development Working Party has already given approval to procure the vehicle.

The project had requested approval of funds, including re-appropriation of Rs58.3 million to fully finance the vehicle. There was no cash balance in the CPEC secretariat project for procurement. Despite availability of funds in various projects under the ministry, no project director showed willingness to surrender funds, except the establishment of federal SDGs administration, which declared Rs9.1 million surplus, showed the documents.

The joint secretary development had recommended deferring the procurement to this fiscal year due to non-availability of funds. Subsequently, the planning ministry ordered re-appropriation of Rs58.3 million, but the spending could not be made due to hiccups in approvals, said the officials.

The secretary planning, who this week has been posted out to the climate ministry, also went on leave on June 30, and the approval could not be secured despite making arrangements for Rs58.3 million payments before the close of the fiscal year.

The ministry had arranged Rs16 million from the competitive grants programme for policy research-oriented projects, Rs18.8 million from the Centre for Excellence for CPEC, Rs9.1 million from the federal SDGs programme and Rs11 million from the Monitoring and Evaluation project. This included Rs6.2 million meant for payments to contractual staff.

When contacted, the acting project director said that under CPEC 2.0, Chinese experts have been invited to work with the Ministry of Planning and other departments to advise on the CPEC 2.0 long-term plan, export development, SEZ development and agricultural modernisation.

He said no urgent payment is being made; it has to be made in total as it cannot be made in instalments. The vehicle will go through bullet-proofing at a later stage as per standard operating procedures of the Ministry of Interior.