KARACHI: A Pakistani company — which is accused by a European firm offering its technological support and services for the Green Line bus project of forgery and fabrication of its invoices — has claimed that it has already taken action against the “person involved” while vowing to carry out its contractual obligations and fulfil its commitments in the public transport project.

The Green Line service seems to be surrounded by a financial controversy when a Spain-based company approached the NAB, FIA and the Pakistani embassy with a complaint that one of the Pakistani contractors had fraudulently charged billions of rupees from the national exchequer in its name, damaging its professional standing.

The complaint came from Spain’s GRUPSA against Pakistan’s MGH Engineering claiming that the company had provided platform screen doors (PSDs) for the Green Line project against over a half million euro.

The company learnt that its repute was at stake as the government of Pakistan was being charged more than two and a half million euro for the services in the name of the Spanish company.

Only last week, GRUPSA also issued a statement seeking a nod from the authorities to allow its team to visit the site “before inauguration” since it came to know about installation of substandard equipment and materials by a local contractor under its name.

While waiting for the response from the NAB and FIA on its complaint, the company said it came to know through different sources about another practice which could badly affect its repute across the world.

In the statement, the Spanish company referred to different images it had found that show low-standard equipment installed along the route of the Green Line project, which were never supplied by GRUPSA but the local contractor was using its name for selling the poor quality materials.

In a fresh development, this time the Pakistani company came up with its side of the story.

It said that it had already taken action when it learnt about the complaint from the Spanish company.

“M/S MGH further clarifies that the claim which forms the basis of the news being circulated was engineered without knowledge of MGH and its management and on coming to know of the fact, the claim was immediately withdrawn and the person involved in the said action has also been penalised,” said the Pakistani company’s statement without sharing details of its action and identity of the “person involved”.

No money was received by MGH under the claim aforementioned and which forms the basis of the ‘unfortunate’ media campaign, nor any loss has been caused to the national exchequer, the statement said.

“On the contrary, MGH, as a gesture of goodwill has foregone other substantial valid and legal claims. Appropriate legal action has also been initiated against concerned person before the court of law.”

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2021