Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is likely to award civil works contract for 122 MW Keyal Khwar hydropower project to Sinohydro Group, well informed sources told Business Recorder. KfW and EIB are said to be providing financing of 97 million and 100 million euros, respectively, for the implementation of this project.
Wapda Chairman Syed Raghab Abbas at a recent meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power, headed by Zahid Khan, clarified that Wapda has awarded the contract to Sinohydro Group while the World Bank barred Sinohydro Corporation, which is a different entity. This correspondent visited the website of Sinohydro Corporation which gave its address as follows: No 22 Che Gongzhuang West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China 100048. A glance on Sinohydro Group reveals the same address ie No 22 Che Gongzhuang West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China 100048 (http://eng.sinohydro.com).
In addition, with respect to Sinohydro-Al Hajvairy consortium, Hajvairy Group has no experience of any dam or water management project (www.hajvairygroup.com), and therefore their involvement raises many questions. When the issue of Synohydro came under discussion in the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power, the Minister of State for Water and Power, Abid Sher Ali and Chairman Wapda, Syed Raghab Abbas Shah stated that if the World Bank which suspended the firm has awarded Tarbela IV to the group, then the GoP should not be worried.
Official documents reveal that on January 24, 2014, Synohydro Group Limited and Hajvairy Associates (Pvt) Limited, in a letter to General Manager (Hydro) Planning, Wapda confirmed that M/s Synohydro Corporation Limited was temporarily suspended by the World Bank, and is a subsidiary of Synohydro Group Limited, a leading company of Synohydro-Hajvairy (JV).
"We hereby confirm and undertake that neither M/s Sinohydro Corporation Limited nor any of their personnel involved in the case of investigation by the World Bank will be engaged in the execution of Keyal Khwar Hydropower project to M/s Sinohydro-Hajwairy," said the authorised representatives of Sinohydro Group Limited and Hajvairy Associates in that letter.
However, Chairman Wapda, in a letter to Secretary Water and Power written on March 7, 2014 stated that only M/s Sinohydro-Hajvairy JV has submitted a bid for the contract. He added that PC-1 (revised) with a rationalised cost amounting to Rs 35046.221 million with FEC of Rs 1421.936 million submitted to the Ministry of Water and Power forwarded to Planning Division is under consideration for approval of the competent forum.
Documents further disclose that General Manager (Hydro) Planning Shoaib Iqbal wrote a letter to Principal Project Officer (PPO) of KfW (Frankfurt Germany) Sven Grantz, saying that it is a matter of serious concern for Wapda''s top management that the implementation of the project is being delayed due to one reason or another. He strongly emphasised that an NOC for the award of contract KKHPP-02(civil works) may be issued without further any delay According to a retired Wapda official "the international rules were clear and even if the corporation was a subsidiary of the group, as admitted, the latter could not escape responsibility as the parent organisation for acts of omission and commission of its subsidiaries". He said both the entities could not be separated as Wapda was trying to do, wondering why the Authority''s Chairman was ignoring such alleged violation pointed out by their own system. Under PPRA Rules, any organisation blacklisted by the World Bank is considered blacklisted and unable to work in Pakistan.