Kartarpur corridor uplift: Rabbani expresses concern over ex post facto approval

ISLAMABAD: Ex-chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday expressed concerns over the ex post facto approval of the development of Kartarpur corridor project of Rs16.546 billion by the ECNEC and raised serious questions on the silence of the NAB on it terming the independence of the NAB as an institution at stake.

“This is yet another test case for the NAB as whether a project worth Rs16.546 billion can be awarded without tender and completion of all codal formalities. The independence of the NAB as an institution is at stake,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mian Raza Rabbani said the ex-post facto approval of the development of Kartarpur corridor on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)/ turnkey basis for phase-1 of Gurdwara Kartarpur at a modify cost of Rs16.546 billion by the ECNEC is a matter of grave concern.

He said the approval of such a large project without completion of codal formalities raises many questions on the method of governance and standards of transparency of the federal government.

The former chairman Senate said the ECNEC which was presided over by the Adviser on Finance has given no explanation as to what was the haste and why such a large project was given the go ahead ignoring the rules, codal formalities and the process of tendering.