Runway to nowhere: The curious case of the sinking runway
FIA probe finds eight CAA officials, six consultants guilty on various counts
ISLAMABAD:
A patch of quicksand would rarely be thought of as ideal terrain to place important infrastructure on, but new information suggests that Pakistan’s aerospace managers would strongly disagree.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) inquiry report on the new Islamabad airport debacle – the findings of which are available with The Express Tribune – found seven Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials including four former project directors guilty of various offences including two cases of ‘criminal negligence and misconduct’.
The inquiry team – the FIA Director General Ghalib Bandesha and additional directors Yaseen Farooq and Ahmed Afani – signed off on July 10, 2014 on their findings after having started the probe in September 2013.
The inquiry panel also suggests criminal action against senior officials of project management consultants – Louis Berger Group (LBG) and Engineering Consultants International (ECIL), and design consultants Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie (ADPI), National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak), Arcop and CPG Corporation.
CAA staff capers
Of the seven CAA officers declared guilty by the inquiry team, Vikram Sodha, a CAA director and former project director for the airport, leads the pack with eight charges against him.
The most significant of these include splitting the project into 17 packages, preparing a PC-1 using ‘rough estimates’, selecting the LBG despite the fact they are ‘not civil engineers’ and without verifying their degrees, failing to take any action against the LBG and other non-performing consultants, and general mismanagement.
Meanwhile, the CAA planning and development directors, Asif Bashir Ahmad and Roohullah, and project directors, Brig (retd) Iftikhar Ali and Brig (retd) Bilal Hameed, have also been charged with splitting the project into multiple packages, failure to take action against non-performing consultants, and mismanagement. Ahmad was also charged with criminal negligence in the selection of LBG, the detail of the charge being the same as Sodha.
In addition, the CAA works and development director Yousaf Kamal and Musharraf Khan, the project director at the time the inquiry was ordered, have also been charged – Kamal for preparing the PC-1 on rough estimates and failure to take action against the LBG, and Khan for mismanagement and failure to take action against design consultants.
Con-sultants
The report also recommends criminal action against senior officials of project management consultants – the LBG and the ECIL – for violating the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Act by failing to disclose that the officials were not qualified civil engineers.
It also states that they showed ‘no interest in the project despite charging exorbitant fees of Rs374 million, remaining absent from the site, taking totally wrong decisions against all engineering principles’, and non-supervision of design consultants and contractors, leading to delays and cost escalation.
Design consultants – the ADPi, Nespak CPG and Arcop – are charged with submission of faulty designs, which were also submitted late, and showing no interest in the project. The report recommends recovery of fees paid – Rs388.5 million – from ADPi and Nespak, and Rs410 million from the CPG and Arcop.
Speaking on the accusations, a source directly involved in work on the airport referred to the site, as a ‘bad choice’, saying that as some of the area was 30 to 35 feet deep and required extensive levelling.
The source said the lack of utilities such as water and power also meant that extensive rainwater harvesting had to be done, and this might have further affected the soil quality.
He said the problem with the consultants lacking relevant qualifications could be blamed on the CAA. “The CAA did not explicitly mention that the qualified civil engineers duly accredited by the PEC were required.”
The CAA spokesperson Pervez George said he could not comment on the report as it has not been shared with the CAA yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2014.
A patch of quicksand would rarely be thought of as ideal terrain to place important infrastructure on, but new information suggests that Pakistan’s aerospace managers would strongly disagree.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) inquiry report on the new Islamabad airport debacle – the findings of which are available with The Express Tribune – found seven Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials including four former project directors guilty of various offences including two cases of ‘criminal negligence and misconduct’.
The inquiry team – the FIA Director General Ghalib Bandesha and additional directors Yaseen Farooq and Ahmed Afani – signed off on July 10, 2014 on their findings after having started the probe in September 2013.
The inquiry panel also suggests criminal action against senior officials of project management consultants – Louis Berger Group (LBG) and Engineering Consultants International (ECIL), and design consultants Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie (ADPI), National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak), Arcop and CPG Corporation.
CAA staff capers
Of the seven CAA officers declared guilty by the inquiry team, Vikram Sodha, a CAA director and former project director for the airport, leads the pack with eight charges against him.
The most significant of these include splitting the project into 17 packages, preparing a PC-1 using ‘rough estimates’, selecting the LBG despite the fact they are ‘not civil engineers’ and without verifying their degrees, failing to take any action against the LBG and other non-performing consultants, and general mismanagement.
Meanwhile, the CAA planning and development directors, Asif Bashir Ahmad and Roohullah, and project directors, Brig (retd) Iftikhar Ali and Brig (retd) Bilal Hameed, have also been charged with splitting the project into multiple packages, failure to take action against non-performing consultants, and mismanagement. Ahmad was also charged with criminal negligence in the selection of LBG, the detail of the charge being the same as Sodha.
In addition, the CAA works and development director Yousaf Kamal and Musharraf Khan, the project director at the time the inquiry was ordered, have also been charged – Kamal for preparing the PC-1 on rough estimates and failure to take action against the LBG, and Khan for mismanagement and failure to take action against design consultants.
Con-sultants
The report also recommends criminal action against senior officials of project management consultants – the LBG and the ECIL – for violating the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Act by failing to disclose that the officials were not qualified civil engineers.
It also states that they showed ‘no interest in the project despite charging exorbitant fees of Rs374 million, remaining absent from the site, taking totally wrong decisions against all engineering principles’, and non-supervision of design consultants and contractors, leading to delays and cost escalation.
Design consultants – the ADPi, Nespak CPG and Arcop – are charged with submission of faulty designs, which were also submitted late, and showing no interest in the project. The report recommends recovery of fees paid – Rs388.5 million – from ADPi and Nespak, and Rs410 million from the CPG and Arcop.
Speaking on the accusations, a source directly involved in work on the airport referred to the site, as a ‘bad choice’, saying that as some of the area was 30 to 35 feet deep and required extensive levelling.
The source said the lack of utilities such as water and power also meant that extensive rainwater harvesting had to be done, and this might have further affected the soil quality.
He said the problem with the consultants lacking relevant qualifications could be blamed on the CAA. “The CAA did not explicitly mention that the qualified civil engineers duly accredited by the PEC were required.”
The CAA spokesperson Pervez George said he could not comment on the report as it has not been shared with the CAA yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2014.