ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: National Highway Authority (NHA) on Wednesday informed Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the Motorway (M-2) from Islamabad to Lahore was being refurbished with at a cost of Rs 36 billion and it would be completed soon.
Briefing the PAC, NHA Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar said there was requirement to repair the Motorway after ten years but it was not done.
The AC met here with Syed Khursheed Shah in the chair and examined the audit paras of National Highway Authority (NHA) for fiscal year 2013-14.
The PAC expressed serious reservations over benefits given to M/s Husnain Cotex (construction company) in awarding road contracts.
The Audit Department officials told the committee that the Husnain Cotex was awarded the contract in violation of PPRA Rules and NHA contract code.
The committee members opined that the said company should be black listed because of poor quality of work.
Referring to media reports, committee member Mahmood Khan Achakzai criticized the company for constructing the road in Zob (Balochistan) which was in dilapidated condition and it must be blacklisted.
Shafqat Mahmood said that committee members had serious reservations on the affairs of Hasnain Cotex and NHA officials were not in a position to comment on the issue.
To this, the NHA Chairman informed the committee that the company had not been awarded any work since two and a half years. However, a project was in pipeline with the company. It was a build-operate-transfer (BOT) based project and 100 per cent investment was being made by the company.
The Audit Department officials pointed out that payment of Rs 636 million in various projects was released to the company in escalation and variation cost and work was also awarded without any competition.
They said Highway Rehabilitation Project, Lahore-Gujranwala Section was awarded to M/s Husnain Cotex at the agreement cost of Rs 4.9 billion.
They observed that NHA awarded an additional work “Construction of grade-separated interchange at Kala Shah Kaku” to the same contractor without open competition at an additional cost of Rs 385 million. The actual cost of project was Rs 5.2 billion.
The committee was further informed that Rs 301 million of secured advance was recoverable from M/s Husnain Cotx. The Audit observed that Project Director, Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road, Quetta did not recover the secured advance from the contractor despite lapse of five years.
The NHA Chairman replied that the matter had been pending in Supreme Court as the contractors filed claims against the NHA.
Source: APP
