LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has cancelled theadministrative contract of Orange Line Metro Train Project (OLMTP) due toirregularities.
The Chief Minister is head of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA).
Sources at the CM House revealed Sunday that the 10-year contract of 60billion for Operation and Administration of (OLMTP) was awarded to aChinese company which was cancelled on legal and technic al basis. It wastold that the former Managing Director of PMTA, Subtain Fazal Haleem, wasinvolved in the preparations of the documents of the contract and sixmonths before his service contract expired and he was not given furtherextension under the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The sources further revealed that the approval of the rules and regulationsfor the contract was not obtained from the respective competent authority.
Following the election of the Chinese company, they added, an approval wastaken.
Sources told that various departments of the concerned authority reviewedthe legal and financial wings of the contract and Public ProcurementRegulatory Authority (PPRA) cancelled the contract last week.
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They said that the chairman of the committee subordinate to the Planningand Development had hinted at various problems in the process of awardingthe contract which was for 5 years but Chinese company was awarded contractfor 10 years.
In addition to this, operational expenditures were extra ordinarily highwhereas the full project and train are the ownership of the Punjabgovernment.
It is worth mentioning here that PMTA has been reconstituted includesProvincial Minister for Transport, two MNAs, four MPAs, Secretary Financeand Transport, PND Chairman and former Transport Secretary.
