The Islamabad High Court(IHC)was moved against the execution of a contract for installing 65,000 Light Emitting Diode(LED)streetlights in Islamabad worth Rs6.8 billion by the Capital Development Authority(CDA)to the M/s Oslo lighting Solutions.
The petitioner,Muhammad Naseem Khan(advocate),while talking to'The News,'said that the'letter of intent'has been issued to the abovementioned company and the prime minister of Pakistan had directed the concerned authorities to execute this contract within fifteen days.
The petitioner has alleged before the IHC that the award of contract is under the shadow of illegal orders of the prime minister and the prime minister's task force on Islamabad,which has no lawful authority for the award in this particular matter.
The petitioner further alleged that the award might cause more than Rs6.8 billion loss to the national exchequer.The contract has been awarded bypassing the CDA Board and in violation of the recommendations of the Planning Commission of Pakistan,he alleged.
The petitioner adopted before the court that according to the Transparency International the price of one LED light is not more that Rs20,000 to Rs22,000.Whereas the authority has been procuring it at the rate of Rs150,000 per light.
According to the petition,the CDA in February 2,2010,invited proposals from local and international firms or joint ventures to provide cost-effective solution for replacement of currently installed streetlights with the LED technology or other energy efficient solutions in order to reduce the high energy cost.
In response to the said advertisement,six firms had filed their proposals out of which three firms M/s Oslo Lighting Solutions,M/s Siteco,and M/s Infracon were short-listed.The petitioner adopted that a high-level official of the CDA in one of its meeting observed that none of the firm conform to the criteria laid down by the authority.
The petitioner said that the Asian Development Bank(ADB)offered to fund the project to the tune of$70 million on the condition that itsr financial support would be subject to satisfaction in respect of the"policy,financial,technical,contractual and legal aspects of the transaction."The CDA then approached the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority(PPRA)and told them that the firm namely M/s Oslo Lighting Solutions gave"the most viable and workable financial model"and M/s Siteco offered the"lowest cost"but PPRA asked the CDA to accept the lowest evaluated bid.
The petition said that the ADB refused to finance the project as the CDA accepted the bid of M/s Oslo Lighting Solutions.The CDA then approached the Central Development Working Party(CDWP),Planning Commission,for the purpose of approval of the proposed project.It said the Planning Commission raised a number of objections on the project,including its high price,financial rate of return,transparency and advised the CDA to launch a pilot project before initiating the entire project.According to the petition,the procedure adopted in awarding contract,which has been enumerated in the paras above substantiates that the manner in which procurement has been carried out by the CDA lacks the standard of transparency as laid down by the Supreme Court.
The petition pointed out that the CDWP raised certain objections and issued a number of directions to the CDA,but the authority did not adhere to these directions.
The petitioners prayed to the court to stop the CDA from executing the project until or unless the authority satisfies to the court that the LED project was transparent and in accordance with the PPRA rules.
