Golen Gol hydropower project awarded in violation of PPRA rules. PHOTO: FILE
The low-cost energy generation initiative Golen Gol undertaken by the government has been awarded in violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules, The Express Tribune has learnt.
In their haste, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) officials showed keenness to award the 106MW contract to the Austrian Andritz Hydro in a tender which got only a single bid.
The technical evaluation of the project along with the review of thousands of documents was carried out in less than 24 hours, showing urgency on the part of Wapda officials, who wanted to give Andritz the advantage of being the sole bidder, sources familiar with the matter said.
According to official documents, Wapda illegally issued a letter of intent (LoI) to a Norwegian company, Rainpower, which was later suspended by the Islamabad High Court.
Wapda, later issued the bidding documents to Rainpower despite the IHC suspension, and later extended the bid to be opened on November 26. The authority was advised by its chairman’s office to follow PPRA rules in the extension but it failed to comply.
Violating PPRA rule 27, according to the documents, Wapda has failed to advertise extension of tenders in the local as well as international media, a condition which is required by the donor agency, Kuwait Funds.
According to the Supreme Court judgment, transparency in awarding the contract is a must, and the process should leave no shadow of doubt that the contract is being awarded against PPRA rules.
The documents reveal that a total of seven bidders had purchased the bidding documents but only Andritz had submitted the offer as others were of the impression that Wapda had already issued an LoI to Rainpower. There is also speculation that Wapda pressured other bidders not to submit offers so that Andritz could be the lone bidder.
As per the letter of general manager projects (North), the commercial bid was opened on November 27, the day after the technical bid submission, showing that Wapda had evaluated the bid in less than 24 hours.
An extract from the letter issued by the office of the general manager projects (north) states, “The financial/commercial bid for lot 3.2 (E&M) works of Golen Gol hydropower project shall be opened November 27, 2013, at 11:00am in the office of Member (Water). All the members of tender opening committee and representatives of Andritz are requested to attend the meeting. The contents of the letter issued with the stamp and signature of Arshad Pervaiz , Director (Civil) for general manager (projects).”
This violation has also raised concerns about the padding of prices, as the bidding has been done by a single company. The Director of Public Relations at Wapda Rana Abid declined to comment on the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2013.
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