Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has suspended eight senior officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and established a high-level inquiry committee to investigate alleged irregularities, collusion, ghost tendering, and other issues in the Rs170 billion CAREC Tranche-III international road project, Dawn reported.
The case is under review by five parliamentary committees from both the Senate and National Assembly, in addition to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA). All have flagged potential violations and irregularities in awarding the four lots of the Tranche-III project, financed by the Asian Development Bank.
A notification from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) listed nine suspended NHA officials, including member engineering Asim Amin, member Imtiaz Ahmed Khokhar, director engineering Muhammad Talha, four officials from the procurement department, and recently retired member Samiur Rehman.
The PM’s inquiry committee comprises retired federal secretary Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed as convener, Commerce Division secretary, retired NHA member Mukhtar Ahmed Durrani, retired chief engineer Akbar Ali, and the Planning Commission member.
The committee’s mandate includes reviewing NHA’s contractor blacklisting practices, examining due diligence during technical bid openings, evaluating grievance redressal processes, assessing project delays, suggesting a way forward, and reviewing any related matters.
The committee is also required to submit a report with actionable recommendations to the Prime Minister’s Office within one week. The Ministry of Communications will serve as the secretariat.
On the other hand, the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division (EAD) directed the NHA to submit documentary evidence within two days to prove transparency in the contract award, warning that failure to comply could result in cancellation of the contract and disqualification of the successful joint venture (JV).
The CAREC Tranche-III contract was awarded to a JV of NXCC, Dynamics Constructors, and Rustam Associates, despite NXCC’s prior disqualification by NHA for failing to complete an earlier CAREC project.
The Tranche-III project includes four road segments: Lot-1, 58km from Rajanpur to Jampur; Lot-2, 64km from Jampur to D.G. Khan; Lot-3, 112km from D.G. Khan to Tibbi Qaisrani; and Lot-4, 96km from Tibbi Qaisrani to D.I. Khan.
Parliamentary committees have repeatedly requested documents to confirm the JV’s technical and financial eligibility and compliance with PPRA rules, but the NHA has not provided sufficient evidence.
During a previous Senate committee meeting on August 2, the NHA was given a 15-day deadline to submit all required documentation.
