What's left now in seeing thins backbone of the country's transportation falling a;; around
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LAHORE (May 27 2010): Pakistan Railways is violating Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) regulations and all norms of International Competitive Bidding (ICB), by trying to procure 150 diesel locomotives in a pre-planned manner from General Electric of USA, at more than double the last purchase rate of locomotives, which will result in a improper procurement of Rs 40 billion.
It was written in the letter by an American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) to the Ministry of Railways. American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) has jumped into the fray to the severe dismay of Railways higher ups.
EMD has written a serious letter (copy available to Business Recorder) through their local office to Minister of Railways drawing his attention to the serious violations of PPRA Rules and irregularities both technical and procedural being committed in this tender for 150 locos just to favour a certain bidder General Electric.
EMD letter states that the Railways tender "is termed "International Tender" whereas the product is to be manufactured and supplied from one country, ie USA. Restricting the bidding from USA will deny EMD to get financing under Canadian EDC channels who offer better terms and conditions than EXIM Bank USA and is far more favourable for both Pakistan Railways and the Government of Pakistan."
EMD openly and directly states that "We believe technical specifications are being formulated with a view to keep EMD out of competition and favour the competitor, ie General Electric. To mention a few: EMD is being restricted to 645F engine, which is outdated, obsolete and no more being manufactured or offered. "Similarly EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) is being made mandatory to favour General Electric.
EMD office complains that "EMD stands disqualified even before participation" in the tender, which is all being done for ensuring that there is only one winner, ie General Electric. EMD letter concludes by requesting that the specifications for fairness to all bidders and not favourable to a particular manufacturer/supplier, ie General Electric.
Apprehensions expressed in EMD's letter were absolutely true, said an official in the Ministry of Railway seeking anonymity, and provided a copy of the tender to this scribe. The sources stated that the technical specifications have been deliberately tailor-made by General Electric's supporter. Behzad Mahmood, who is Railways CME/Loco, and who has ensured that General Electric can be the only bidder who will meet these specifications, he added.
As stated in EMD letter, Behzad Mahmood has intentionally kept only two diesel engines as acceptable in the technical specifications of this tender. The first being General Electric's 7FDL, and the second being General Motors/EMD's 645F. Railways is well aware that EMD's 645F engine is out of production, so in actual fact Behzad Mahmood has very shrewdly and cleverly ensured that there can only be one qualified bidder, ie General Electric.
By the way, restricting the bidding to any specific brand/make is violation of PPRA procurement rule 10. Further proof of mala fide intent is that the technical specifications of this tender are almost exactly in line with the original General Electric proposal dated 12 February 2010. In other words, the standard PR technical specifications have been altered from previous tenders so that they are customised for General Electric's locomotives.
Apart from the choice of General Electric Engine 7FDL, AC-AC traction has been specified for the 3000 HP locomotives. This is exactly as per General Electric Offer dated 12 February 2010 despite the fact that all current locomotives on Pakistan Railways have AC-DC traction. Similarly, to name another customisation, Electronic Fuel Injection has been made mandatory.
Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has already written to Railways requesting for an explanation of this dubious tendering. To deter other bidders from buying the tender documents (and complaining about the obvious collusion with General Electric), Railways took the unprecedented step of keeping the tender price at Rs 500,000 (which was one hundred times more than the Rs 5,000 price of previous locomotive tenders). Exposure of this fact in the newspapers and electronic media made the Railways backtrack and reduce the bid price to Rs 5,000 on 13 May 2010.
Sources added that Railways General Manager (Manufacturing), Syed Shahid Ahmed, is masterminding this mis-procurement and is making all out efforts to justify the high cost and purchase of General Electric locomotives for personal vested interests, and he has even been quoted in a local paper blaming President Zardari of corruption in the previous purchase of locomotives. Shahid Ahmed is focal person and the author of the Decision of the Railways Executive Committee dated 02 March 2010, which recommended that the preparation of PC-1 for this project could be avoided by disguising this procurement as a replacement, and attempted to sign the contract with General Electric without any tendering on the basis of their dated 12 February 2010.
An official in the Ministry of Railways hoped that this tender process is investigated by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Auditor General of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and last but not the least prayed that suo moto notice should be taken by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan.
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LAHORE (May 27 2010): Pakistan Railways is violating Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) regulations and all norms of International Competitive Bidding (ICB), by trying to procure 150 diesel locomotives in a pre-planned manner from General Electric of USA, at more than double the last purchase rate of locomotives, which will result in a improper procurement of Rs 40 billion.
It was written in the letter by an American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) to the Ministry of Railways. American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) has jumped into the fray to the severe dismay of Railways higher ups.
EMD has written a serious letter (copy available to Business Recorder) through their local office to Minister of Railways drawing his attention to the serious violations of PPRA Rules and irregularities both technical and procedural being committed in this tender for 150 locos just to favour a certain bidder General Electric.
EMD letter states that the Railways tender "is termed "International Tender" whereas the product is to be manufactured and supplied from one country, ie USA. Restricting the bidding from USA will deny EMD to get financing under Canadian EDC channels who offer better terms and conditions than EXIM Bank USA and is far more favourable for both Pakistan Railways and the Government of Pakistan."
EMD openly and directly states that "We believe technical specifications are being formulated with a view to keep EMD out of competition and favour the competitor, ie General Electric. To mention a few: EMD is being restricted to 645F engine, which is outdated, obsolete and no more being manufactured or offered. "Similarly EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) is being made mandatory to favour General Electric.
EMD office complains that "EMD stands disqualified even before participation" in the tender, which is all being done for ensuring that there is only one winner, ie General Electric. EMD letter concludes by requesting that the specifications for fairness to all bidders and not favourable to a particular manufacturer/supplier, ie General Electric.
Apprehensions expressed in EMD's letter were absolutely true, said an official in the Ministry of Railway seeking anonymity, and provided a copy of the tender to this scribe. The sources stated that the technical specifications have been deliberately tailor-made by General Electric's supporter. Behzad Mahmood, who is Railways CME/Loco, and who has ensured that General Electric can be the only bidder who will meet these specifications, he added.
As stated in EMD letter, Behzad Mahmood has intentionally kept only two diesel engines as acceptable in the technical specifications of this tender. The first being General Electric's 7FDL, and the second being General Motors/EMD's 645F. Railways is well aware that EMD's 645F engine is out of production, so in actual fact Behzad Mahmood has very shrewdly and cleverly ensured that there can only be one qualified bidder, ie General Electric.
By the way, restricting the bidding to any specific brand/make is violation of PPRA procurement rule 10. Further proof of mala fide intent is that the technical specifications of this tender are almost exactly in line with the original General Electric proposal dated 12 February 2010. In other words, the standard PR technical specifications have been altered from previous tenders so that they are customised for General Electric's locomotives.
Apart from the choice of General Electric Engine 7FDL, AC-AC traction has been specified for the 3000 HP locomotives. This is exactly as per General Electric Offer dated 12 February 2010 despite the fact that all current locomotives on Pakistan Railways have AC-DC traction. Similarly, to name another customisation, Electronic Fuel Injection has been made mandatory.
Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has already written to Railways requesting for an explanation of this dubious tendering. To deter other bidders from buying the tender documents (and complaining about the obvious collusion with General Electric), Railways took the unprecedented step of keeping the tender price at Rs 500,000 (which was one hundred times more than the Rs 5,000 price of previous locomotive tenders). Exposure of this fact in the newspapers and electronic media made the Railways backtrack and reduce the bid price to Rs 5,000 on 13 May 2010.
Sources added that Railways General Manager (Manufacturing), Syed Shahid Ahmed, is masterminding this mis-procurement and is making all out efforts to justify the high cost and purchase of General Electric locomotives for personal vested interests, and he has even been quoted in a local paper blaming President Zardari of corruption in the previous purchase of locomotives. Shahid Ahmed is focal person and the author of the Decision of the Railways Executive Committee dated 02 March 2010, which recommended that the preparation of PC-1 for this project could be avoided by disguising this procurement as a replacement, and attempted to sign the contract with General Electric without any tendering on the basis of their dated 12 February 2010.
An official in the Ministry of Railways hoped that this tender process is investigated by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Auditor General of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and last but not the least prayed that suo moto notice should be taken by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan.
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