Sewerage project faces scrutiny

Punjab Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has summoned the Jaranwala municipal committee administrator along with the relevant record after the disqualification of four construction firms from procurement for sub-projects of improvement of the sewerage system and construction of a wastewater treatment plant costing Rs1.2 billion.

The project is being funded by the World Bank.

According to sources, the municipal committee had called tenders for the projects, advising the contractor firms to submit the technical and financial bids simultaneously.

While opening the technical bids, only one firm was declared qualified while the others were declared disqualified, following which they filed petitions in lower and the high court. They also appealed to the Anti- Corruption Establishment, Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company (PMDFC), the deputy commissioner of Faisalabad and the procurement regulatory authority to cancel the procurement process and initiate the tendering anew.

The DC referred the matter to a grievances redress committee, following which another firm was declared qualified for the bidding.

To ascertain the facts behind the disqualification of contractors, the municipal committee was ordered to constitute a panel to investigate and decide upon the complaints within 15 days.

Meanwhile, the PMDFC, a subsidiary of the Punjab Local Government Department has sent a letter to the chief officer of the municipal committee,stating that upon the evaluation of technical bids conducted by the consultant, clarifications from all the prospective bidders were necessitated, However, the advice of the consultant was ignored and the single bidder qualified.

The technical evaluation was also uploaded on the PPRA website on March 22.

The sources said one of the aggrieved firms had requested a task team leader of the World Bank to intervene in the matter.

The PMDFC recommended to the administrator of the MC to halt the procurement process till the grievances are addressed by the World Bank and the DC. However, the municipal committee turned a deaf ear to the recommendation of the PMDFC, a monitoring and regulation agency designated by the WB and Punjab government, and opened the technical and financial bids on March 26 and April 22.

PPRA officials had earlier called the administrator on April 18 but neither any responsible officer appeared nor submitted a report or the record, the sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2024.