Islamabad:
A parliamentary body on Tuesday expressed serious concerns about the allocation of a major motorway construction contract to a blacklist company, which has alarms on transparency, procedural failures and financing delays in the Rajanpur-dera Ismail Khan section of the Highway project.
The Senate of Communications Committee, which met in Parliament in Parliament with its president of Senator Perviz Rasheed, grilled officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) on the stagnant progress of the project, an insufficient allowance in the current PSDP and the decision to grant the contract despite the alleged entrepreneur.
According to NHA officials, five bypasss are planned between Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan. Although the financing of certain bypasss has already been approved, others were still pending.
They said that 6.7 billion rupees had been published so far for the project, but a billion additional rupees is required. The partial funds of the Jampur segment have already been transferred to the national chessboard.
NHA officials informed the committee that a total of 11 bypasss will be built within the framework of this project and that the estimated cost for the acquisition of land is only 11 billion rupees.
The president of the NHA also specified that the payments for the construction of seven bypasss have been fully made, although there remains a financing deficit of 5 billion rupees for the acquisition of land.
He also expressed his concern that the funds necessary for this project were not allocated to the PSDP for the current year.
Senator Zameer Hussain expressed his concerns concerning the award of the contract.
He said that the company had been on the black list and wondered how the NHA board of directors had approved such a contract.
“If this company has obtained the contract, it would be a major error,” said Senator Saifullah Abro. “As president of the Division of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, I can confirm that we have held a meeting on this very issue.”
Senator Abro criticized the NHA treatment of the issue, accusing the authority of publishing a press release contradicting the Senate press release. “The NHA press release is lacking in respect for the entire Senate,” he said. He demanded that a subcommittee be formed to investigate the issue.
Senator Kamil Ali Agha has supported the request, saying: “This is a serious task on the reputation of the NHA and the loss must be treated.” He added that if the NHA manages to justify its position, it would be willing to resign.
Senator Zameer also said that the honor of the Parliament had been insulted and called for formal action.
Senator Abro noted that the Senate’s media wing had made no mention of a blacklist company. However, the NHA had reacted strongly.
The Committee also examined the toll costs collections from 2023 to 2025.
