PAC expresses dismay over irregularities in New Islamabad Airport project

ISLAMABAD: The sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday expressed dismay over irregularities of over Rs5 billion in the New Islamabad International Airport project and directed the Aviation Division to submit reports of the ongoing inquiries within two weeks.

The sub-committee meeting was chaired by its convener Senator Sherry Rehman which examined the audit paras relating to Aviation Division with regard to New Islamabad International Airport.

Sherry Rehman expressed shock over the scale of irregularities, saying, “The pre-qualification of the bidders started in 2012. It took CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) three years to approve tenders? It is highly suspicious that after the visit of high ups, a bidder was finalised in two days while others were knocked out.” She said the contract was awarded at a cost of Rs5.9 billion, which is 132 percent higher than the revised PC-I estimate of Rs2.5 billion.

She observed that the huge infrastructure gaps conveniently appeared in the PC-I for years of padding out and adding inflated procurements in complete violation of rules. “Not only the standard regulations were standard, but also covered up to clearly facilitate a few at the tax payers’ expense,” added the senator.

Sherry Rehman criticised the formation of the joint venture for its irregularities, and said that the final joint venture entity was not clearly listed among the original 10 bidders and was subsequently added out of nowhere and made part of the JV. She said this is a grave violation of the law, which states that all companies involved in the JV are required to have the same name and title during the entirety of the process. “The JV partner was changed behind closed doors. If that is not the case why were the auditors and committee not told,” she questioned.

She said such gross negligence resulted in the total cost for the new airport to jump from Rs36 billion to Rs81 billion. “The level of incompetence and collusion across departments is troubling,” Sherry Rehman said, while directing to present inquiry report to the committee in the meeting of the sub-committee on November 8.