The sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Tuesday reviewed completed and ongoing projects by the National Highway Authority (NHA). The meeting which was chaired by the Senator Saifullah Abro and was also attended by senior officers from Ministry of Communications and NHA. The sub-committee reviewed various completed and ongoing projects by NHA to identify cost overruns and related reasons for it. The committee was informed that there were 33 projects that were completed at increased cost, which was almost 13 percent more than the initial bid.
The main reason for increased costs of projects were difference between financial funds and financial phasing in PC-I; cost escalation; additional scope of work and land acquisition issues. The committee reviewed in detail 10 projects including Larkana – Khairpur Bridge Project; Lakhi- Naudero – Larkana project; the Larkana – Moenjo Daro Road Project, the West Bank Bypass in Muzaffarabad, Larkana – Moen Jo Daro Road Project, Moosa Pak Shaheed Bridge, Gharo Keti Bandar Road. The Hyderabad – Sukkur Road project was also discussed in detail. The chairman committee also directed that a letter must be written to the Chairman NHA regarding irregularities and stressed that public/private partnerships were the way forward and all-out efforts should be made to ensure transparency of the bidding process.
The Ministry was directed to carry out amendments in data presentation. While discussing the prequalification process, Senator Saifullah Abro stressed the need for transparency of the process. He was of the view that following international standards in this regard would be helpful. Stressing the need for improving security situations, Senator Saifullah Abro said this was an essential step towards prosperity and development.
However, issues were observed majorly in projects that were initiated in between 2008 to 2013. A total of 25 out of 35 projects fell into this category. It was asserted that background research should be stringent so that cost overruns were prevented. It was stressed to follow international standards in order to minimize escalation costs, as seen in most ADB projects. The Convener Committee was of the view that cost overruns and escalation costs must be investigated minutely in order to curb irregularities in various projects.