LAHORE:
The National Grid Company (NGC) has declared that a black list is eligible to participate in a tender for a 135 -kilometer transmission line project.
According to the details, NGC issued a tender to establish a 135 km transmission line. Four companies were declared eligible after a technical evaluation. A company previously in the blacklist of the Asian Development Bank to enjoy a fraudulent practice and provide false documents was also declared eligible after the technical evaluation. Interestingly, a company on the blacklist cannot be declared eligible to participate in any tender.
In a letter sent to the NGC managing director, a Saudi investment company said that the company arrived in Pakistan for making investments for the government’s invitation, but the company in the blacklist was declared eligible, which is equivalent to irregularity. The incident raised the interrogation sign on transparency in the NGC bidding process.
The Saudi company demanded that the investigation be carried out on the matter to restore the confidence of foreign investors.
The sources said that some NGC officials are changing the rules to declare that the company on the blacklist is eligible. When Express News contacted the NTDC NTDC Nahid Nazeer engineer on the matter, he said that the Saudi company letter was sent to the Acquisitions and Contract Management Department.
