Report on ‘controversial’ Rs20.4b water contract sought

The Punjab government has recently taken notice of the award of a Rs20.4 billion contract for Lot 2 and Lot 3 of the Chahan Dam Water Supply project to a Turkish company after terminating a partnership with a Pakistani company, seeking a report within a week.

Up to 25 million gallons of water have to be provided from Chahan Dam and Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi daily under the Rs33.859b loan funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The contract was awarded solely to a Turkish company after terminating the partnership with the Pakistani company. The lack of transparency in the contract award and violation of laws and regulations have prompted the formation of a fact-finding committee, led by the Chairman of the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team (CMIT). The committee has begun reviewing the records at WASA Rawalpindi, and a report will be submitted to the Punjab chief minister after a week.

The committee, under the leadership of CMIT Chairman Salman Ejaz, and members Ahsan Waheed (Member Four) and Ghulam Abbas Work (Member Engineering), is investigating the record at WASA Rawalpindi regarding the bidding process for the project.

The bidding involved a joint venture between the Turkish company, 5H Insaat, and the Pakistani company, Qasim & Co. However, the contract for Lot 2 and Lot 3 was awarded solely to the Turkish company. According to the law, no foreign company is allowed to secure a contract without forming a joint venture with a Pakistani company.

Sources say the contract for Lot 2 and Lot 3 was awarded seven months later, after the contracts for Lot 1 and Lot 4 had already been granted. In this context, WASA sought guidelines from the local government.

A letter regarding the formation of the fact-finding committee was issued by Sajad Zafar Dal, the Principal Secretary to the Punjab CM. It is worth noting that the contracts for Lot 1 and Lot 4 had already been awarded. The contract for Lot 2, valued at Rs8.3b, and Lot 3, worth Rs12.1b, were granted to the Turkish company 5H Insaat. Work on Lot 1 and Lot 4 is already underway.

For Lot 1, the contract for a 12 million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant at Chahan Dam, worth Rs6.36b, was awarded to China Construction Third Engineering Group (Penty V). Meanwhile, for Lot 4, which involves upgrading the filtration plant and pumping machinery at Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam, as well as rehabilitating the old water lines, the contract worth Rs7.199b was awarded to a joint venture of 5H Insaat and MS Metra Khan BD Ltd.

These two contracts are set to be completed within three years. For Lot 2, the contract for the installation of a main pipeline from Chahan Dam to Chak Jalal Din, worth Rs8.3b, and for Lot 3, the contract for laying the distribution network to supply water from Chahan Dam to the city’s residents, worth Rs12.1b, have been awarded.

The completion of these four contracts will significantly improve the water supply system in six union councils (UCs) along Adiala Road, as well as in the areas of Khayaban-e-Sirsyad and other parts of Rawalpindi city.

It is important to note that this project, initiated with a loan of Rs33.859b from the ADB, has appointed Hamza Salik as the Project Director in Lahore and Zeeshan Shaukat Gondal as the Deputy Project Director at WASA Rawalpindi.