ISLAMABAD - Senate Standing Committee on Energy was told on Monday that National Engineering Services Pakistan, Limited (NESPAK), since its inception in 1973, had completed 3,578 development projects at national and International levels.
“NESPAK undertakes total 3,944 local and foreign projects, out of which some 3,055 development projects have been wrapped up within the country while 523 abroad,” the officials of NESPAK told the committee which met here with Senator Fida Muhammad in the chair. Some 331 national and 35 foreign development projects were underway, they added.
Sharing details of the ongoing projects in the country, the officials said the company was working on 35 development schemes in the federal capital, 79 Punjab, 22 Sindh, 42 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and others.
NESPAK was also carrying out development schemes in other countries including 12 in Qatar, 9 in Saudi Arabia, 8 in Oman and others, they added.
The officials apprised the committee that NESPAK was undertaking maximum projects of the public sector including Water and Power Development Authority, National Transmission and Dispatch Company, National Highway Authority, Frontier Works Organization, Civil Aviation Authority, Railways and others.
They said the organization had generated some Rs 97.2 billion and spent Rs 80.14 billion during the last 45 years in addition to the payment of Rs 4.2 billion taxes.
The official told the committee that last year’s revenue generation of NESPAK was around Rs 8.2 billion.
Senator Numan Wazir Khattak stressed the need for hiring local consultants instead of foreigner.
The Managing Director NESPAK said the company preferred to hire consultants from the country but foreign consultants had to be hired on the request of the project’s donor.
Senator Siraj ul Huq underlined the need for evolving a mechanism that would ensure timely completion of development projects, besides blacklisting the companies which caused inordinate delay in execution of development schemes.
He said timely completion of development projects helped avoid extra burden on national exchequer and public inconvenience.
Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, who was heading a sub-committee on energy formed recently to investigate “high tariff, capacity charges, heat rates and calculation of pay back periods of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), submitted its detailed report over the matter.
The committee meeting was also attended by Senators Pervaiz Khattak, Dilawar Khan, Maulvi Faiz Muhammad, Minister for Power and Petroleum Omar Ayub and officials of NESPAK and the ministry.