FWO, NLC violating rules & regulations, PAC told
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) on Monday informed the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and National Logistic Cell (NLC) were making adjustment of their liabilities in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in violation of the government rules and regulations.
The PAC, which met with Syed Khurshid Shah in the chair here, reviewed the bidding process of awarding contracts for collection of toll at 103 plazas. The committee showed its dissatisfaction over the contracts procedures and collection of data shared with the committee.
In briefing, Chairman NHA Shahid Tarrar informed the committee that unlike previous practice, the NHA awarded toll collection contracts through bidding process as per PEPRA rules. “Still the FWO and NLC are occupying a number of toll plazas at motorways,” he added. “We are following PEPRA rules in awarding contracts in the light of directions of parliamentary committee in 2008,” he said.
The committee also showed its dissatisfaction over revenue details of those plazas on motorways where the FWO was collecting agent. The committee observed that the operations & maintenance (O&M) cost was going up, but revenue was moving down.
The Secretary suggested that PARAL system be installed at various toll plazas of the FWO and the committee could verify the traffic data collected at the toll plazas with PARAL data. If both data would not match, the responsible should be taken to task, the chairman said.
Overall collection during 2012-13: the NHA collected Rs 13,359 million as toll tax from 103 plazas. Monthly collection at these toll plazas is Rs 1.1 billion.
The chairman NHA informed the committee that the authority had a plan to increase the number of Electronic Toll and Traffic Management (ETTM) toll plazas from the existing eight. “We have plans to extend the solar run ETTM system to all 103 toll plazas at motorways and highways, but we need finance for this,” he added.
The chairman further informed the committee that the NHA had a dispute with Daewoo Express Bus Service in the International Court of Arbitration. He said optimistically that the decision would be in Pakistan’s favour. He blamed that in violation of agreement, Daewoo Company illegally occupied the Concession Area including the Right of Way.
He further said that the NHA had also disputes with the Punjab government, which transferred in its name all the concession area including the right of way, which fell under the administration of the province.
He said that the revenue of the NHA could be increased if service areas along the motorways be rented out, as it could become a major source of income than toll collection, he hinted.
The committee did not give any ruling because the officials of the NLC and FWO did not appear before the committee despite notices were issued to them.
