May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, May 13: The Capital Development Authority has overspent Rs198.884 million on the construction of Parliament Lodges, an audit report revealed.

According to the Performance Audit Report, 1999-2000, the CDA failed to complete 362 suites of the Parliament Lodges despite an increase in the cost of construction and stipulated time.

The report recommends an inquiry against the ‘unnecessary’ addition made in the project in respect of scope of work and extra items.

It said the project, launched in 1993 with an estimated cost of Rs699.890 million, was to be completed in 36 months.

The project was started without assessing its financial viability. Due to increase in the furnishing and renovation work, desired by a committee, headed by the then speaker of the National Assembly, the cost of the project was revised to Rs1.156 billion with the approval of Ecnec in September 1997, which was almost 65 per cent more than the original cost.

The CDA claims that an additional amount of Rs98.784 million was allocated in a separate PC-1, which was approved by the Central Working Development Party (CDWP) in September 1996 for furnishing of the suites.

The audit report said in the revised PC-1, completion period was enhanced to 46 months. Even then the CDA failed to complete the project by February 1997. The contractors were behind the schedule from the beginning of the project.

It said only 220 suites were constructed during the stipulated time and blocks H and J remained incomplete. This was due to the fact that the authority enhanced the scope of work without seeking approval from the CDWP and Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) which resulted in the increase of the covered area from 882,156sq feet to 1,009,905sq feet.

The report said powers were delegated to the consultants to approve variations without CDA’s approval. However, the authority claimed that the original PC-I cost of Rs699.890 million for the construction of 316 suites and allied areas was approved by Ecnec in March 1993.

The report said in July 1995 the physical progress of the project was 39 per cent against the schedule progress of 79 per cent.

It added that the CDA made an ‘unnecessary’ expenditure of Rs9.65 million on account of fee for hiring consultants against the agreed contract fee of Rs5.208 million.

Moreover, an unjustified expenditure of Rs30.167 million was made on account of allowing extra items on high mark-up, labour escalation without any clause in the agreement, extra amount for lifts from the agreed FOB value and extra payment for installing undersized lifts in blocks F and G.

The report said the delay in tendering, the late completion of work, accepting higher rates for carpets, non-recovery of risk and cost amount from the contractors resulted in the loss of Rs57.146 million.

On the other hand, the CDA administration attributes the delay to the non-availability of funds.

The CDA said carpets were bought at the lowest rate as compared to market rates. Carpets for banquet hall were specially designed and manufactured.

The audit report revealed that a wastage of Rs13.189 million were noted on account of extra supplies of furniture, carpets, curtains and fabrics.

However, the authority’s administration claimed that no extra supplies were made as these items were purchased for blocks H and J which would be brought into use after the completion of the blocks.

The report said inefficiency of the contractors and consultants were the main reasons for the delay, and the CDA failed to take action against them under the clauses of agreement.

But, the CDA attributes the delay to weaker sub-soil condition, changes in specification, increase in scope of work and inadequate funding by the government.

The authority suffered a loss of Rs22.784 million because the project was divided into three phases against the single administrative approval, the report added.

It said complaints were received about civil works, door- locks, exhaust fans, seepage, bad quality geysers, reverse slopes in bathrooms and lack of protection from rain falling directly on the northern and western sides. Bad quality of work was due to lack of proper supervision of the CDA, it added.

The authority’s administration claimed that the Parliament Lodges building was occupied before its completion and finalization of civil, electrical and mechanical works.

The report recommended that no addition in the approved scope of work should be made without the approval of the project’s approving authority. It said agreement should be so executed that litigation/wastage should be avoided, pre- qualification be done on merit and tendering should be done in time without splitting the work.

It said annual expenditure of Rs40 million was estimated for the maintenance of lodges, but the building could not be maintained properly because recovery from the occupants at the agreed rate fo Rs4,000 per month was not being made. Moreover, the lodges were under illegal and unauthorized occupation, it added.

It suggested that recovery from the occupants should be made at approved rates so that the building might be repaired according to the standard, besides offsetting the capital value within 10 years. Otherwise it should be immediately disposed of to recover the capital value before it further deteriorated.

The requirement of foreign exchange was enhanced from an amount equivalent to Rs27 million to Rs36 million in the revised PC-I for procurement of central air-conditioning system and lifts for blocks A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H. Only nine lifts were procured for blocks A,B,C and D, while the remaining four lifts for the other blocks were not purchased within the estimated provision, the report added.

The report said the CDA suffered a loss of Rs1.93 million on account of awarding the tender wrongly for duplicate items of supply and installation of local material. The authority’s reply that the payment made according to the accepted tenders was not found satisfactory, it added.