Granting licenses to RPPs: 'officials in a hurry to pocket hefty kickbacks'

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Faisal Saleh Hayat on Friday strongly reacted to the story "cabinet directives put on hold regarding removal of Rental Power Projects (RPPs) contractual inconsistencies", published in Business Recorder and vowed to raise the issue in National Assembly and every other forum.
He termed the decision to grant licenses to RPPs in undue haste "a daylight robbery of the government". It is unacceptable, he said adding that recent directives of the Cabinet to remove contractual inconsistencies for the multi billion dollar rental power projects, as noted by third party audit, has been put on hold by an office memorandum of the cabinet division.
In an exclusive talk with Business Recorder, he blamed the government for speeding up the process of awarding contracts to rental power companies in haste. "Even, they are not ready to address the inconsistencies involved in the signed agreements with these companies as indicated in third party verification," he observed.
Faisal reiterated that he would again float the matter on the floor of the House and also rewrite to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to revisit the RPPs cases in the light of fresh notification by cabinet division. He said government ill intention was obvious, as it wanted to grant the licenses in silence when political parties and people were busy in relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people.
He said he had written to Apex Court and provided documents to it some nine months back for suo motu action and the case was pending before the court. He observed that the third party objections by Asian Development Bank had also been ignored. The process was being undertaken in hurry to give undue favour to earn hefty commission. "If this deal is materialised, it involves $300 million kickbacks," he alleged.
He said that the commitment of government to grant 14 percent payment in advance to these rental companies was a clear violation of PPRA rules. Experts had already observed that these rental power projects would not help government to reduce power deficit in the country, he added.