Daily Times

The Punjab government may find itself in the firing line over the alleged irregularities in the award of contract for an air ambulance service announced by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz soon after she took oath of the office.

The tender for the air ambulance service was initially issued by the Rescue 1122 in newspapers for submission by March 29, 2024. Later, a “corrigendium” was issued, mentioning an extension in the submission date up to April 1, 2024 and a change in the subject of the contract from “Two aeroplanes for provision of Air ambulance Service in Punjab” to “Hiring of Services for air ambulance service in Punjab”. The ToRs mentioned in the tender documents remained same.

A pre-bid meeting was arranged at the Rescue 1122 Headquarters on March 28 but neither anything new was mentioned nor did they made any changes to mandatory requirements for bidding companies having registered aircraft and a licence showing medevac in operational specification and a minimum of 5-year experience in the given field. On the day of technical opening, three companies were shortlisted and the Rescue 1122 DG was informed about alleged irregularities and that the companies do not qualify given criteria.

However, no heed was given and the financial bid was opened, announcing Skywing with the lowest bid to the surprise of all for the following reasons.

Skywing does not have a charter licence and also lacks required experience mandatory on medevac. The company does not have two aircraft capable of medical evacuations as “one aircraft possesses single engine and is unable to fly at night. The second one is the aircraft of the Edhi Foundation. The company has acquired it temporarily as Edhi Foundation’s licence had expired and they were awaiting renewal.

The Edhi Foundation has donated the aircraft for non-commercial use.

So, it seems that rules were violated while awarding the contract to the above-mentioned company. The Edhi Foundation’s aircraft is all set to take first flight with the new monogram, indicating Punjab Rescue 1122. This could embarrass Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz during the inauguration of the air ambulance service despite her good intentions to serve the people of the province.