NAB’s nod: LED project back on track

Controversy over award of contract had stalled the streetlight replacement project.

ISLAMABAD:

The city authorities on Friday managed to secure National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) nod for the multi-billion-rupee Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlight project for the capital.

NAB had sought a briefing from the Capital Development Authority officials on the project following objections raised by Transparency International and parliamentary panels.

Through a letter to the CDA chairman on February 2, NAB had sought a copy of the PC-I of the project, the related tender advertisements published in newspapers, and profiles of the potential contractors. The bureau had also asked the CDA to submit details of the recommendations of the civic agency’s technical committee and its mandate.

A senior official in the civic authority told The Express Tribune that “NAB officials were happy with the presentation the CDA gave to it regarding the project.”

The official said that it was agreed that NAB’s advice will be incorporated in all future agreements signed with stakeholders.

“The CDA will now urge the government to release fund for the project,” he said adding that the authority is not putting in its own money.

The official said that under the existing agreement, the federal government will bear 25 per cent of the project cost, while the contracted company will bear the remaining 75 per cent of the Rs6.5 billion project. The company will be paid off through deferred payments beginning three years after completion.

A three-member committee comprising finance, planning and engineering members had given its recommendations to the CDA board for approval of the project in 2010.

Subsequently, the contract to replace current streetlights with light emitting diode (LED) lights in the federal capital was awarded to Oslo Lighting, but the project was later held back amid controversies.

The official said CDA is exploring the options to conserve electricity and decrease the huge cost incurred on operating streetlights in the federal capital.

Replacement of the existing lights with LED ones, which have a useful life of around 20 years, would reduce the authority’s electricity requirements by 52 per cent, which in turn will lower demand on the national grid by 8.32MW.

The CDA’s 65,000 conventional streetlights consume a load of 16MW and incur annual running expenses of over Rs1.2 billion, which is growing every year.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2012.