There is great public outcry against the endemic delays in completion of public sector projects. To quote a few, we see that the 1450 mega watts Ghazi-Barotha run off the river hydro power project was delayed by a good three years. This project came on bar in late 2003 against the originally projected completion in 2000.
The delay, according to experts, has been calculated to cost the national exchequer a total of US $1.0 billion at the rate of a cool US $1 million each day in shape of lost revenues. National LNG import project is another that has already been delayed by one year. ECC's latest edict to retender this project may delay the import of badly needed gas for the energy starved country by a further two years or so. WAPDA's delay marred 970 mega watts Nelum-Jehlum hydro power project can also be quoted in this very context. Actually, delays are evident everywhere.
Another example that needs to be discussed is the import of locomotives. The other day, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a project of the Pakistan Railways to purchase locomotives from the world renowned General Electric (GE). Although, the ECNEC has cleared the project, which would surely open up the possibility of up to mark operations of the railways through induction of sate of art, most sophisticated 150 diesel engines, the controversy continues. The media is now giving credence to finance ministry's comments, which incidentally are infructous after ECNEC's clearance of the project. Additionally, such comments, amongst others, are offered to enable the ECNEC in its decision making and should ordinarily be of no consequence and nor taken up for discussion in isolation after the decision has been taken.
However, it seems that the issue now is some obscure deviation from the PPRA rules that the media deems fit to highlight. The interesting part is that in 2004, when the much cheaper 69 Chinese locomotives were procured by railways, the same experts and the media castigated the purchasers for ignoring standard engines manufactured by the GE of USA. The difference between now and then is that the earlier purchase was on the basis of the lowest bid model and the supposed adherence of the laid down specifications by the supplier (which did not turn out to be the truth) and that this time around the specifications are stringent, thus enabling the buyer - the Pakistan Railways - to oust spurious bidders.
A little insight reveals that currently even before the physical take-up of a project, the whole bidding process gets debated, discussed and thereafter also debunked. Invariably, the losing bidders start propagating against the very bidding process they had accepted earlier on and even if somehow the process does not stop, the controversy carries on to the detriment of project. As there seems to be no process through which the aspiring bidders could be ousted on the account of lack of qualification-specially, when the current law provides for a level playing field thus equating the best and the middling on the same level. It thus seems that the problem lies in the implementation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules, which have set a procedure whereby transparency can be assured, but it all may not assure quality or the timely completion of the project which thereafter could complete its life expectancy.
Experts are of the view that national projects have to be dealt with or processed differently and in a special manner. It is also considered that the PPRA rules, somehow do not cater for a situation where the country's infrastructure needs immediate beef-up and where not a single day can be wasted in completion of tedious processes, which is the case at the moment.
What needs to be done. The first of the steps would be to set-up a bipartisan commission to redo the PPRA rules so that the same could be brought in line with ground realities of the country. The commission may look into the tendering/procurement processes of various large size and mega projects under taken in the country since 2005 and onwards. This would give the commission the required insight for making necessary changes. Secondly, there is a very serious requirement to formulate different rules and processes to tackle large and mega-infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Special emphasis has to be laid on projects pertaining to the energy sector and those having relevance to the physical infrastructure of the country. On the other hand, tendering and procurement for lesser projects can continue as it is till such time the PPRA rules are redone.
Coming back to the commission set-up to re-do the existing PPRA Rules and to recommend other solutions to the present stalemate, we see that the third of the solutions would be for the Planning Commission to decide as to which of the project qualifies to be taken up as a special case and which ones would go through the normal mill. As there is also the talk of fast tracking mega hydel projects in the country, whereby the needed water reservoir capacity and comparatively cheap hydro generation could be accessed in the least possible time, there is a need to look into this aspect too.
During the President of Pakistan's visit to China, it is known that the company completing the world's biggest hydro generation project in the world named Three Gorges Dam had offered to take up at least three mega projects in Pakistan on the BOOT basis. However, such investment cannot come Pakistan's way in case it is tackled in the normal fashion. In order to take up such projects, the requirement is for the relevant ministry/department/organisation to take up a pre-qualification exercise whereby the top contenders or the possible bidders would be listed on the basis of a very stringent criterion, focusing on their ability to complete the projects and to also guarantee full life expectancy and value for the monies thus spent. This should be a very simple exercise because leaders in each field or category of infrastructure building are known to all. Thereafter, only the pre-qualified companies could be asked/required to submit their bids. The final evaluation and award will then be done by a special committee comprising finance minister, the relevant federal minister of the ministry concerned, the leader of the opposition and the Auditor General Pakistan. This would ensure that only the qualified companies bid for the project and that the evaluation/award takes place in a transparent manner. Moreover, the time wasted in the present tedious procedure and controversies will be saved. This is the only way in which timely completion of the projects can be taken up.
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