Three world records

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May 11, 2013: A total of 14.8 million voters voted for PML-N candidates; the PML-N bagging nearly 33 percent of the popular votes. The PML-N’s current tally stands at 147 general seats, 35 reserved and 6 minorities for a total of 188.
June 5, 2013: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif took oath as the 18th prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
1st World Record: On March 26, 2015, the first-ever shipment of 147,000 cubic feet of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) arrived at the Karachi anchorage. Initially, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources was not willing to disclose either the price paid or the buyer (claiming that the private sector has imported). Later on, the media discovered that the payment for the first shipment was made by Pakistan State Oil (PSO). Later on, the media was told that the price paid was $8 per mmBTU (FOB).
As per data maintained by Waterborne Energy, Inc the price of spot LNG stood at around $6.90 per mmBTU. For the record, we overpaid around $3 million for our first shipment – and along the way created a new World Record of buying the most expensive LNG in that timeframe.
Admittedly, the Government of Pakistan is obligated to abide by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Rules (PPRA) under which the government has to call in international tenders. Admittedly, international players can play their own games and overcharge our government. The best for the government, therefore, would be to get out of the LNG buying business and let Pakistan’s private sector buy-and negotiate-its own LNG purchases.
For the record, since that first shipment PSO has bought an additional six shipments and overpaid around $18 million.
2nd World Record: On May 5, 2015, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park, Pakistan’s first-ever solar power generation plant. The first 100MW project is owned by the Government of Punjab (through Bank of Punjab) and put up in record time by the turnkey contractor Tebian Electric Apparatus Xinjiang SunOasis Co.
Admittedly, the government of Punjab was in a rush and when your customer is in a rush contractors charge you more – a lot more. For the record, New Mexico, USA, is buying solar power at 8.5 cents/kWh; Andhra Pradesh at 10.28 cents/kWh; Brazil at 8.7 cents/kWh and Dubai at 5.98 cents/kWh.
Lo and behold, our very own National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s determination of Upfront Generation Tariff for Solar PV Power Plants is 18.28 cents/kWh (Years 1-10) – our 2ndWorld Record.
3rd World Record: On June 4, 2015, the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was inaugurated. The 22.6 kilometre Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system was completed in a record time of 15 months at a reported cost of Rs44.94 billion.
Admittedly, the Government of Pakistan was in a rush and when your customer is in a rush contractors charge you more – a lot more. As per data maintained by the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) here’s the per kilometre costs: Ahmedabad (India) BRT $2.4 million per km; Changzhou (China) BRT $4 million per km; Beijing (China) $4.8 million per km; Paris (France) $7 million per km; Istanbul (Turkey) $8.8 million per km.
Lo and behold, Lahore BRT was built at a cost of $11 million per km. On June 4, 2015, we created a new World Record; Rawalpindi-Islamabad BRT at $20 million per km.
Who said: “Computers can figure out all kinds of problems, except the things in the world that just don’t add up.”
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.
Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com. Twitter: @saleemfarrukh