New railway engine imported from China is off loaded at Karachi port on Saturday. NAB revealed that the executive committee of the PR board had illegally approved a deal with Chinese firm Dalian Locomotives for the maintenance of 69 locomotives. PHOTO: ONLINE
LAHORE:
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has finalised an investigation into misappropriation in the procurement of spare parts worth $3.78 million for 69 Chinese locomotives of the Pakistan Railways (PR), The Express Tribune has learnt.
According to an investigation report, the accused awarded contracts for maintenance and repair as well as procurement of spare parts for Chinese locomotives in violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and PR’s code.
In addition to this, instead of a tender committee, another body was constituted illegally for granting the contracts.
A NAB official said three accused were indicted and identified them as then general manager (operations) PR Saeed Akhtar, the former general manager (maintenance and services) Naeem Malik and the then additional general manager (mechanical) Mian Ahsan Mahmood. They played a key role in the purchase of spare parts.
Another misappropriation of $300,000 was also unearthed. Though the amount was allocated for training of officials, Chinese experts did not visit Pakistan for the purpose.
According to the investigation, based on a decision of the committee, PR purchased 1,132 types of spare parts instead of the required 450 types. Of these, 356 were purchased at a price five times higher than the actual price in the open market, 256 were bought at twice the actual price while the remaining were not needed at all.
NAB revealed that the executive committee of the PR board had illegally approved a deal with Chinese firm Dalian Locomotives for the maintenance of 69 locomotives. The deal was unnecessary because the spare parts purchased were not required and were still lying in PR warehouses, it said.
From 2003 to 2007, PR procured the 69 locomotives manufactured by Dalian Locomotives, which also provided spare parts for up to three years.
However, by early 2009, most of these locomotives developed major faults, causing huge losses to the PR.
Later on August 17, 2009, the PR board’s executive committee considered the maintenance contract for the purchase of spare parts. Under the contract, almost 80% of the PR’s maintenance budget was released to Dalian, leaving no money for the purchase of spare parts, repair and maintenance of other locomotives.
Because of this contract, the report said, the entire fleet of locomotives went out of order as there was no money left for purchasing spare parts and repair work.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (8)
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@unbelievable: you obviously have no idea dude. the locomotives from china were gotten at a price of US $175 million whereas the competing US company was selling them for $305 million. Please do some research. and if you have a doubt go visit the workshop in lahore.
@Loyal Pakistani: So you sabotaged a Billion worth of locomotives to make the govt look bad with the goal of buying more expensive USA locomotives? I've read some stupid conspiracy theories on this forum but that takes the cake. BTW the USA doesn't sell locomotives to Pakistan - you don't have the money/credit and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it illegal for USA corp to bribe foreign govt - deadly combo.
@Loyal Pakistani: Who is going to decide what is right and what is wrong? No one. Best to privatize railways if we can find a buyer. Let the private sector handle the risk and enjoy the reward. They'll send all these corrupt officials packing and turn the business around.
I think it is good. Pakistan Railway has found a good man after long time. It was Sheikh Rasheed, the last good man in the Pakistan Railways who did some good stuff for it and Saad Rafiq is doing well too.
This is all a lie by the NAB and the govt of Pakistan. They want to make money by buying much more expensive US locomotives and bogies. That is why they are blaming these innocent people! One of my friends actually visited a Pakistan railways workshop and he was told by the employees that they were forced to not take care of the Chinese supplied locomotives in order for them to break down and then bring up the issue of substandard equipment and this case of over charging of parts. Our paid "servants" govt. employees are taking us for a ride by making up false cases and spreading propaganda; the Chinese aren't fools and they don't want to ruin their business by supplying substandard stuff to Pakistan.
I hope our people are smart enough to understand this!
Seems like China charging Pakistan amounts higher than Himalaya and giving service level lower than deepest seas and the overall deal for Chinese is sweeter than sweetest honey.
Yeah you got screwed on your spare parts contract ... but worst of all you bought 69 Chinese locomotives which were lousy/defective and you didn't lift a finger to complain. Anybody bother to ask whether any other country had purchased Chinese locomotives before you entered into the contract -- my guess is NO.