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Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Senator Saifullah Abro chairs a meeting at the Parliament House on May 29, 2025. — Facebook@Pakistansenate
#Senate #panel #rebukes #Nespak #NTDC #tendering #process
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee for Economic Affairs was expressed his resentment over the tendering process of the National Engineering Services Pakistan (PVT) Limited (NESPAC) and the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) on Friday.
The meeting was held in the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Saifullah Awar, and was attended by Senators Kamran Murtaza, Rahat Jamali, Falak Naz, Kamil Ali Agha and Senior Management from the Ministry/concerned departments.
Committee Chairman Senator Ayabar remarked that it was a matter of great shame that Nespak, the national agency responsible for the technical evaluation, failed to stop such a decision. Nespak was responsible for ensuring proper verification, he said. Senator eyebrows highlight that if the deal was given to the deserving bidders, the country could save Rs 500 million. He noted that the company that was awarded the project – Niaj, Lahore – had a shortage of relevant experience. Expressing serious concern in this regard, he said such negligence could not be ignored.
Senator Awra said that the matter would be obtained by relevant forums such as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to ensure that public funds were recovered. He also recommended that strict action should be taken against the officers involved. Referring to legal contradictions, he asked, if PPRA rules are not applied, how can a letter from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) be considered correct? He reminded that during the previous meeting, the care minister M Ali presented three letters, which raised serious questions about the transparency of the process.
When the committee sought further details, it was reported that all relevant data of the Engineering Development Board (EDB) had been destroyed in the fire, and only one certified letter was presented to the committee. Senator Kamal Ali Agha inquired whether the inquiry was conducted after the fire. The department said no inquiry was made. On which, the chairman of the committee advised that a formal inquiry be made for the fire incident and strict action should be taken against those responsible, including the officers of the Power Division.
The chairman asked if there was any recovery of misused funds, to which the department replied that a letter was written to the NTDC. The Chairman recommended that all the companies involved should be blacklisted, illegal funds were recovered, and that the officers should be removed,
The committee also inquired about the report and minutes of the 282nd NTDC board meeting. He needed to submit his report within 15 days, however, the board submitted it after six months. The chairman recommended that strict action be taken against the board and that the money should be recovered within two weeks.
During a briefing about the Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP), the committee discussed the issue of the lands of land and expressed surprise at the disclosure that local residents were being paid to vacate the government land.
The committee was told that the project was being financed through the loans of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank. It was reported that the solar panels are available in the local market for about Rs 27,000, while the department is buying them for Rs 60,000.
Senator eyebrows noted it as a serious violation and recommended that the matter be sent to the PAC to examine contradictions between market rates and purchase costs.
