While Pakistan government is inviting Chinese investment to cope with the ongoing financial crisis, the Port Qasim Authority (PQA), at the behest of a European dredging firm, is initiating open bidding process for Rs 10.305 billion self-financed navigational channel dredging project in its favour against its well-qualified Chinese competitor.
The PQA has a plan to undertake deepening and widening of the channel to achieve an all-weather 14-metre draught in the 45-km long navigational channel by 2010. The project would be undertaken on 'Design, Construct and Finance' basis.
While there is an unprecedented congestion at the country's two operational ports, Karachi and Port Qasim, which lack the capacity to accommodate big vessels carrying thousands of tons of wheat, the PQA is yet to finalise the fate of the months-old project which, when completed, would ensure berthing of deeper-draught vessels at the port, and help the Authority avoid the present traffic jam at outer anchorage.
According to sources, ever since the opening of the bids some time back, in June-July, when China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) was the lowest bidder, another firm, 'Dredging International' (DI), its only competitor, started manoeuvring to knock out the Chinese firm from the tendering process.
Sources said that the Belgian firm, which had submitted its financial bid of Rs 10.8 billion, against CHEC's Rs 10.2 billion, was persistently trying to influence the tendering process in its favour by different ways, like approaching the federal ministry, etc.
DI, they said, had also approached the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and tried to influence its decision on approval of the project.
Sources added that while the Technical Department of PQA, after declaring CHEC as qualified both financially and technically, had forwarded the matter to the PQA Board, the latter was reluctant to take a decision with regard to the award of the contract to the successful bidder. "The Board, which was under tremendous pressure created by DI by accessing the high-ups in Islamabad, left the matter to be decided by Federal Minister," they said.
In this regard, sources said, a meeting was held at PQA on Saturday under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Naveed Qamar and was attended by Director General Ports and Shipping Vice Admiral Asad Qureshi, Chairman PQA Afsar Din Talpur and others.
They said that representatives of CHEC and DI also attended the meeting and gave presentations to the minister. The meeting, however, remained inconclusive and it was decided that another meeting would be held on Monday. No PQA official could be available for comments.