ISLAMABAD, May 12: The fund allocated for the installation of a chiller plant in the National Assembly may lapse as bidding for the project has not yet been held due to disinterest of foreign firms in the bidding, sources told Dawn.

The bidding for awarding contract to install the plant was to be cancelled for the third time on May 9 as no foreign firm turned up, and the local firms were debarred from participation in the tender process, the sources said.

The National Assembly Secretariat had directed the Capital Development Authority to immediately install the chiller plant before June 1 otherwise the allocated fund would lapse.

The secretariat expressed concern over the delay and told the CDA that the entire process of allocation, sanction and award of contract would have to be started from zero if the contract was not awarded before forthcoming budget 2003-2004.

The sources said the CDA had floated tenders for the third time as previous two biddings were cancelled to discourage local companies.

They said in the first two biddings, the rate offered by the local companies was even lower than the estimated cost of the project.

The estimated cost mentioned in the tender was Rs9.838 million, while the lowest bid filed by a local firm was Rs7.516 million.

The sources said the existing airconditioning system in the National Assembly had been installed by a local firm and, so far, there were no complaints against it.

They said there seemed to be no genuine reason for cancellation of tenders. When contacted, a CDA official said the main reason behind inviting foreign firms was to get quality products.

However, some of the local firms, which participated in the last two biddings, were of the view that they were ISO-9001 certified and had already installed the equipment at the National Assembly and other important places.

The sources said the CDA had deprived the local firms of the chance to take part in the bidding of the project.

They said there were clear instructions from the government under the SROs that all provincial and federal government institutions should procure their requirements from the local industry.