Punjab auditors, investigators focus on FWO’s role in R3 inquiry

ISLAMABAD: Punjab government auditors and anti-corruption investigators, who have been quizzing officers working on the Rawalpindi Ring Road project, are now focusing on the role of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) -- the premier engineering organisation working on nation-building projects.

Informed sources say that the provincial auditors raised a para in which the consultant of the R3 project, M/s Zeeruk Int (Pvt) Ltd., was accused of a breach of the secrecy clause by sharing the proposed alignment,engineering designs and environmental impact assessment with the FWO, which was one of the bidders for the contract of the multi-billion rupee project.

Interestingly, during the probe, the anti-corruption investigators dubbed the military-run organisation as a private party. According to the audit para, “During inspection of the record of PMU (Project Management Unit), Rawalpindi Ring Road, it was observed that a contractor M/s FWO submitted an unsolicited proposal (USP) for the construction of the RRR on 4th April, 2020. This unsolicited proposal contained the same engineering drawings and Environmental Impact Assessment as submitted by M/s Zeeruk Int. (Pvt) Ltd. Further, the alignment on which the proposal was submitted by FWO was similar to the alignment presented by M/S Zeeruk on 4th January, 2020, containing the Attock Loop and Paswal Zigzag. This shows M/s [Zeeruk] had shared a detailed design of R3 with a third party.”

The audit para added, “Violation of contractual obligations resulted in breach of the secrecy clause by M/S Zeeruk Int. (Pvt) Ltd. Audit recommends penal action for breach of contract by the consultant.”

Besides the auditors, the provincial anti-corruption investigators are also probing the concerned officers for facilitating the FWO. According to the sources, several questions pertaining to the FWO have been asked to some of these officers including former commissioner Rawalpindi.

These questions include: What was your interest in converting the Project to PPP (Public private partnership) mode and facilitating the FWO when no such proposal was presented/ approved by the RDA, PSC or provincial government? Are you aware of the fact that the unsolicited proposal (UP) submitted by the FWO has used all the data and alignment of Zeeruk? How did this happen? Zeeruk was paid from provincial funds so why was it facilitating a private party? The UP of the FWO was presented in the third meeting of the PPP P&M Board held on 3-07-2020 where you were enthusiastically supporting taking up this project in PPP mode with ROW to be provided by the Bank. As a PD (project director), why didn't you inform the board about processing of the project from loan mode? Had the negotiations been concluded with the bank at that time and had the bank refused to fund the project? If not, how could a project be left midway and PD support the same when funds are already spent on feasibility for the loan mode?

Informed sources wondered why, if it was against policy, did the provincial policy board headed by the chief minister and having many ministers and secretaries as members, review the FWO UP. These sources said that the FWO’s UP was in the complete knowledge of the CM, advisor Suleman Shah, Chief Secretary, Chairman P&D and all concerned in the provincial government.

It was on the basis of this UP that the Punjab government had rejected the AIIB-approved loan of US$ 400 million which the PML-N government had approved in 2018. It is said that the Planning Commission and Economic Affairs Division at the federal level were keen to build the project through the AIIB loan but the Punjab government decided to construct it under the PPP mode.

The same FWO, which is seen as a private party in Punjab, has been awarded the contract of the Margalla Road by the federal government without any competitive bidding and through a negotiated contract in relaxation of the PPRA rules. Prime Minister Imran Khan himself laid the foundation stone for the project being built by the FWO.

It is said that as a standing practice, if a premier state agency wants to give an unsolicited proposal for a national project there is no harm in facilitating it to make a workable proposal on the PPP mode. With data and information available with public sector agencies, the sources said, the formulation of the PPP bid is impossible. For a UP, any prospective bidder (in this case a state-owned agency) can ask for data and information.