Smart City Without Tender Notice – What Is The Government Hiding?
4 months after the Smart City project was launched in Pakistan, not one brick has been laid and no construction company has been awarded the projects. However, Tender Notices have just appeared on the Government’s website that shed light on who all might be building this great project and how much money will be needed to get it done.
Smart City Without Tender Notice
no transparency and accountability. According to Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, work on smart city will be started in Sukkur and Larkana first and later it will be extended to other areas of Sindh. On March 8, he said that government does not require permission from any one for starting smart city work in other cities of Sindh including Kala Shah Kaku, Thatta, Gadap, Mirpurkhas and Shikarpur. No tender notice has been issued so far for establishment of smart city at Kala Shah Kaku (in Smart city), Information Minister Imran Khan was quoted as saying by a local news website’s report.
Taking up a project in haste and without tender notice will affect its implementation. We have seen it happen time and again in Sindh, which is widely recognised as one of most corrupt provinces of Pakistan. Such steps are taken by politicians with vested interests, who are only looking to make easy money by giving construction projects to their own contractors at exorbitant prices. This is why whenever such projects are undertaken, contractors demand for more money for every stage of work; after all they have no fear of punishment or penalty due to shoddy workmanship or poor quality of material because there is no transparency and accountability.
There should be total transparency before starting any such project in any city.
Construction contracts outside the purview of JICA guidelines
Given that citizens and activists have raised concern over fresh tenders being awarded without tender notice, despite Japan International Cooperation Agency KSK guidelines, KSK is working on a methodology to ensure transparency. The district government is currently working on a structured system for contracts awarded by public-private partnership (PPP) companies, he said. According to him, such a move would ensure that all contracts are transparently awarded as per JICA's policy. We will also make it mandatory for these PPP companies to submit their financials on a quarterly basis so that they are available in local government offices, he added. This will help us monitor how these private companies are performing and what projects they are executing.
For instance, there are various ongoing construction projects in Kala Shah Kaku that have not been awarded through competitive bidding. These include a flyover on main University Road and a sewage treatment plant near KSK.
Construction of both these projects was awarded to GOP Construction Company Ltd, a local private firm, in 2013. However, GOP's name does not appear on any contract note or payment certificate (PC). It is also worth noting that none of these projects were included in Kala Shah Kaku's master plan published in 2016—the PC for which was signed by former Sindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
Proof of award letter from the government
Award letters showing that a government entity has agreed to a contract are an important step in ensuring that a construction project will be completed. Projects take years to complete and it’s common for things to fall behind schedule due to difficulty obtaining necessary materials or lack of labor. Award letters with signatures from key players, like Pakistan’s Prime Minister or Planning Commission Chairman can help provide assurances to citizens and investors about what is going on at different points during construction. However, one award letter alone may not be enough evidence to prove a project is being built as planned and how much has been spent.
Sustainability has been a huge issue in Pakistan as of late, with government officials and citizens calling for more transparency to ensure that public funds are being spent wisely. While information on projects is available in digital form on websites like SBM or SME Portal, award letters themselves don’t seem to be publicly available. However, when news sources such as DAWN get copies from official sources like PILDAT it can be an important step towards full transparency and help citizens hold their elected officials accountable. It also keeps track of project progress and budgets so that construction can continue smoothly after a change in leadership occurs.
-Third Paragraph: A lack of information regarding tender awards makes it difficult for many stakeholders to know whether or not a project is happening as planned.
No effect on cost, says EDB
Construction companies are up in arms against an apparent ‘discrepancy’ between two government tender notices regarding how a Smart City project should be carried out. According to one notice, published on March 6 by the Economic Development Board (EDB), contractors should submit their bids without any pre-qualification round. But another notice, dated February 15 and issued by PVT.LTD Corporation (PVT.LTD), which is managing projects for EDB under its Integrated Master Plan (IMP) 2020 strategy, stated that all bids must undergo a pre-qualification process before they are shortlisted. In other words, applicants who have yet to meet any minimum requirements will still be allowed to bid in Phase 1 of Singapore’s largest infrastructure project.
When asked to explain why there was a discrepancy in tenders, EDB said in a statement on Friday (Mar 10) that the IMP 2020 conditions were developed together with JTC and other government agencies. Some bidders are pre-qualified by ltd under its own standard operating procedures, it said. When asked to confirm if it meant that pre-qualification is not mandatory for Phase 1 bids under IMP 2020, EDB did not reply as of press time. This means that construction companies will still have an incentive to bid as low as possible when tendering for Smart Nation projects such as these. This means that construction companies will still have an incentive to bid as low as possible when tendering for Smart Nation projects such as these.
Contractors raising subcontractors
No tender notice and all projects being directly given to big contractors is not a smart way to build a Smart city. Outsourcing of roads, drainage, water supply, solid waste management and other major components should be awarded through competitive tenders which would have benefited both local businesses and have been less expensive. Bidders will be required to prepare detailed project reports in order to participate in competitive bidding for any contract greater than $25,000. Projects are designed and let out as packages so that local businesses can compete fairly with larger companies on a level playing field.
The Sindh government should tender out projects in smaller packages which would then attract a lot of local businesses. Smaller local businesses can play a major role in most of these Smart city projects which will then be able to invest in other businesses and create more jobs which is something that we all want. A perfect example of a successful smart city without unnecessary spending is Singapore where almost everything from ATM machines to smartphones run on solar energy and it’s almost impossible to find any electronic device or phone that isn’t running on batteries created using solar power. Solar energy has also played an important role in helping Singapore become one of fastest countries when it comes to broadband internet with over 100% penetration rate for both home and mobile internet connections.
