LNG questions

This refers to the news reports, ‘Rs200 billion loss in LNG deal, claims NAB inquiry’ (November 19) and ‘Government clarifies LNG deal news item’ (November 20). The NAB report has revealed only a fraction of the mischievous way in which the whole project was developed and is now being operated.
The statement of the new LNG terminal head that the earlier cost of the terminal was increased because a new and separate jetty was constructed was contradictory. Even if it is assumed that it is a different terminal than the one originally approved, the massive change in scope in the contract automatically calls for retendering. Moreover, the NAB report found that initially the cost of the LNG terminal stood at $30-40 million; it was later quoted at Rs120-130 million in the financial bid. There is no justification for such an increase in a short span of time, particularly when the PSO payment is lease based. If all facts and figures are taken into account, the portion of the contract that deals with developing the terminal has given a clean advantage of at least $90 million to a few people. Also, tendering for LNG molecules had many inherent issues and unanswered queries: why did SSGCL/PSO waive the strict contract conditions for unloading the off-specification LNG in July 2015?
Benjamin Kahn
Faisalabad