TIP asks Sindh to follow public procurement rules

Says province should re-invite tenders for open lignite mine.

KARACHI: Transparency International-Pakistan (TIP) has said that the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) must follow public procurement rules as it is not an independent company and is owned in a majority by the Sindh government. The province has a 60% stake in the company.

“Sindh Public Procurement Act 2009 and Sindh Public Procurement Rules 2010 are very clear and state that when Sindh-consolidated funds are involved, public procurement rules are mandatory,” TIP said in a letter sent to Sindh Coal Authority Director General Danish Saeed earlier this week.

It requested the director general to ask SECMC to follow rules in all procurements and re-invite the tender for development and construction of an open lignite mine in Thar block-II.

In an earlier letter sent on January 30 this year, TIP pointed to an order given by the Sindh High Court, restricting the award of a contract for digging coal in one of the blocks of Thar.

Quoting news reports, it said Sindh Coal Authority had not followed Rules 46(a) and 47, which did not allow the use of single-stage two-envelope bidding procedure for construction work. According to amendments to rules since October 8, 2013, it added, all construction contracts should be processed under Rule 46(a), which was single-stage one-envelope bidding procedure.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2014.

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