Pakistan promotes procurement principles

Relaxation in bidding rules for power plants disallowed The government on Thursday refused to allow the water and power ministry to violate the public procurement and transparency rules in the name of setting up fast-track power plants, plugging in any possible avenue of kickbacks in establishing these projects.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved only in principle the idea of setting up fast-track power plants to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity during 2011-12. In a welcome move, it linked the proposal with a broader policy framework that puts emphasis on transparency and adherence to public procurement rules.

“Transparency will be ensured at all costs,” Finance Secretary Salman Siddique told reporters in a briefing on the ECC meeting, which was chaired by Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh.

“The principle of propriety and the parameters laid down in the General Finance Rules and Public Procurement Rules such as transparency, competitiveness, most economical and cost-effective would be met before setting up any plant,” he added.

The ministry wanted the ECC to relax the international competitive bidding procedure so that it could negotiate “deals” with investors on its own terms and conditions. The ECC’s decision would compel the ministry to adhere to transparency.