Tenders for the procurement of 150 locomotives by Pakistan Railways (PR) are likely to be delayed as the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways has formed a technical committee that would carry out a third party evaluation of the procurement process.
The Standing Committee Chaired by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday has unanimously formed a six-member special committee to review the evaluation criteria and terms and conditions in order to ensure transparency which would complete its work in two weeks’ time.
Pre-bid conference for the procurement of locomotives is scheduled to be held on September 6 while tenders are planned to be opened on September 24. The process may be extended for two weeks subject to the completion of pre-bidding evaluation process.
Chairman Railway Board Javed Iqbal informed the committee members that 18 tenders have so far been received from various locomotive manufacturing companies. He said that the entire procurement process would be transparent and in compliance with the established public procurement regulations.
Sardar Sadiq while emphasizing the need for transparency in the whole procurement process, pointed out that there are pro-China and pro-America groups in Pakistan Railways in terms of the procurement of locomotives. “We want the ‘pro-Pakistan’ approach as whatever is procured, should be in the interest of Pakistan Railways and Pakistan as a whole,” he said.
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council had approved in December last year procurement of 150 locomotives at a cost of Rs55 billion including foreign exchange component of Rs40 billion. Pakistan Railways has prepared specifications for procurement of 75 locomotives having 3,000 to 3,500 HP and 75 locomotives of 2,000 to 2,500HP in complete built unit (CBU).
Secretary railways Iqbal said that a full scale rehabilitation of about 150 locomotives would start next month. It is projected that 96 locomotives would be back on track by the end of the fiscal year to earn a revenue of Rs12 billion.
The committee asked Pakistan Railways to submit a report on the number of locomotives procured during 2008-2011 and the state of their conditions. It also asked railways authorities to acquire original spare parts from manufacturers while repairing and rehabilitating the sick locomotives. Out of its 500 locomotives, only 200 locomotives were in operation.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that the decline in revenue generation never stopped since 2008-09 when generated Rs23 billion, It declined to Rs22 billion in 2009-10 and Rs18.7 billion in 2010-11. In the backdrop of current crisis, railways officials feared that this revenue could be as low as Rs12 billion during the current fiscal year.
Presenting the revenue statistics, Sardar Sadiq regretted that no solution has so far been worked either by Pakistan Railways or the federal government to turn railways a sound public sector organization. Against the dismal picture of revenue generation, Pakistan Railways is spending huge amount on salaries and allowances to its staff. The annual bill of salary and allowance which was Rs10.6 billion in 2008-09 has shot up to Rs15 billion. Likewise, railways paid Rs5.3 billion as pension to its retired employees in 2008-09 and it increased to Rs8 billion in 2010-11. In terms of losses, the picture is bleak and the losses have now reached Rs33 billion against Rs23 billion in 2008-09, he explained.
The issue of stolen radiators from the Central Diesel Workshop in Rawalpindi also came up for discussion and the Inspector-General of Railways Police informed the committee that in two incidents 11 radiators were reportedly stolen from the workshop. After thorough enquiry it was discovered that these radiators were not stolen but were misappropriated by concerned railway staff. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is also investigating the matter and a report will be before the committee at its next meeting.
The committee discussed the implementation of minimum wage of Rs7,000 by Pakistan Railways for its temporary laborers. Railways was not paying the minimum wage announced by the ministry of finance in the 2010-11 budget. The committee gave 30 days to Pakistan Railways to implement the decision effective July 2010.
Comments are closed.