PESHAWAR: Major irregularities and a lack of transparency have been revealed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Rs33 billion free solarisation project, which has not only raised questions about the project’s credibility but also had a profound impact on the performance of the relevant institutions.
According to a private TV channel, the project underwent several significant changes, unlike PC-1, with the inclusion of an expensive “all-in-one solution” at the top. Shockingly, the price per solar unit was set at around Rs204,000, although experts said the actual cost should not have been more than Rs140,000 per unit.
Further questions were raised about the alleged lack of transparency in the project when a top government engineer, who had opposed the all-in-one solution, was removed from his post. Moreover, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regulatory Authority has termed the tendering process as a ‘misprocurement’.
According to details, the project was divided into 20 packages, out of which only one bid was received for 18 and the same company was declared eligible, which shows that there was no competition in the bidding process. Surprisingly, the lowest bidder for two packages in Hazara Division was rejected, even though its price was 7% lower than other companies.
The most important and controversial aspect is the inclusion of an “all-in-one unit”, which, according to sources, is manufactured by only one foreign company and has only one supplier in Pakistan. Most of the bidders offered the same brand and model, indicating an alleged nexus. Energy experts say that such non-transparent decisions are not only leading to a waste of public money but also questioning the government’s claims of reform.
Efforts were being made to get a position on this from the PDMA and other relevant institutions, but no official explanation has been forthcoming yet.
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