Committee finds irregularities in Rs2.6 bn construction project

ISLAMABAD: The construction of new Islamabad High Court (IHC) building has been stopped after a government-appointed committee found irregularities in award of contract for the project costing Rs2.6 billion.
A divisional bench of IHC comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamir Farooq issued the stay order after the submission of the damning report by a four-member committee constituted by the Establishment Division on the orders of the high court.The report, a copy of which is available with The News, says that the process of pre-qualification of construction firm was questionable.
“The committee is unanimously of the opinion that the entire process of pre-qualification of the construction firms is not based strictly on the criteria prescribed by Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and as laid down in the Pre-Qualification Advertisement in the press inserted by EE PCD-II, Pak PWD, Islamabad. As such the process becomes questionable,” says the fact-finding report signed by Amir Tariq Zaman Khan, additional secretary Inter Provincial Coordination who is convener of the committee. The other members included director development unit in the ministry of housing and works Zafar Ali Khan, chief engineer Pak PWD, Lahore S.M Zohair Khalid and Superintending Engineer Circle-II, Pak PWD, Islamabad.
“None of the pre-qualified firms have fully met the mandatory requirement of having executed three works of similar nature costing Rs2 billion during last five years as advertised by Pak PWD,” says the committee in its report.
The report says the consultant M/S Architect did not strictly follow the marking procedure prescribed by PEC for evaluation of contractors’ pre-qualification. “The format devised by them, if any, is not known or is in contradiction to the laid down formulas of PEC. One firm has been given marks for the same project in the completed as well as work in hand category,” says the report.
The contract for the construction of IHC building was awarded to M/s Interhom in January this year but the same was challenged in the Islamabad High Court on February 4, 2015. The court had directed the secretary housing and works to constitute a fact-finding committee to conduct an inquiry into the alleged irregularities committed in the process of pre-qualification/tendering and award of work for the project.
Sources said the ministry of housing and works and Pak Public Works Department (PWD) are at loggerheads over the construction project as the ministry is not happy with handling of the project by director general Pak PWD Ata-ul-Haq Akhtar.
Even during the court proceedings on Thursday, DG PWD and the ministry’s representative gave conflicting statements regarding the start of construction work on the project.Ata-ul-Haq Akhtar claimed that secretary housing had approved the start of construction work after a meeting chaired by IHC judge Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. However the ministry official contradicted his claim saying the work was started by DG on his own.
When contacted by The News, Ata-ul-Haq Akhtar said the fact-finding report has no substance and he will file a detailed response to the report with IHC on Monday. “The irregularities mentioned in the report are not irregularities as PEC guidelines are not mandatory for PWD,” DG PWD said.
He said no violation of PPRA rules could be found in awarding contract. The firm selected by the consultant is well reputed - M/s Interhom - as it has been involved in construction of Aiwan-e-Sadar, Pak Secretariat and a foreign embassy.
None of the other firms could match the qualification of the selected firm, he claimed.The director general was of the view that a corrupt mafia is unhappy with him, as he did not allow corruption to take place in Pak PWD. He said the original cost of construction was Rs2.9 billion but he managed to bring it down to Rs2.6 billion after negotiations with the contractor.