ISLAMABAD: Senator Saifullah Abro of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has resumed his ‘crusade’ against alleged procurement irregularities in multimillion-dollar foreign-funded projects, a year after his leadership of a parliamentary panel was unceremoniously terminated.

On Nov 28, 2023, Senator Abro was removed from the position of chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Power through a no-confidence vote and was replaced by PML-N senator Azam Nazir Tarar after he kept on investigating and questioning the award of contracts for transmission line projects, funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The lenders had also ordered internal investigations into those projects. The outcomes are yet unknown.

“This transition in the leadership marks a pivotal moment in the committee’s direction and promises a renewed focus on addressing crucial energy-related matters in the country,” a press release issued by the Senate Secretariat had stated on Nov 28, 2023.

PTI’s Saifullah Abro was replaced as head of Senate panel last year; argues delayed NTDC projects costing national exchequer millions

The move had come only a day after the Senate panel, headed by Mr Abro, found fault with the procurement of foreign multilateral-funded projects of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and ordered the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) not to sign the final agreement with a local firm under ‘suspicious circumstances’.

The panel, under Senator Abro’s chairmanship, had also raised serious questions over transmission line for Dasu hydropower project.

Months later, Senator Saifullah was elected to the Senate standing committee on economic affairs as its chairman.

On Wednesday, he presided over a meeting of the Senate panel that was given a detailed presentation on foreign-funded projects he had sought a few days ago.

“Discussing the projects under the ADB, Senator Abro inquired about the delay in completion of the ‘Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme Tranche 2’, which includes the construction of substations in Mirpurkhas and Zhob. The project was executed by the NTDC,” a statement issued by the Senate secretariat said.

The project was initially set to complete on Dec 31, 2024, but it will now be completed in August 2025. Officials said the project was delayed due to Covid-19, delays in the issuance of letters of credit, and changes in design in the later stages.

The Senate committee had sought comprehensive details of the delay at its meeting. It also “expressed dissatisfaction with the details and recommended that the tendering details of all the completed and ongoing projects executed by the said agency be provided,” the statement added.

Senator Abro argued that the majority of NTDC projects had been delayed by a year or more, costing millions to the government, the statement said.

Alamzeb Khan, additional secretary for the power division, told the committee that the power ministry had constituted a ‘monitoring and implementation wing’ to oversee the progress of the projects along with monthly reports.

Additionally, the ministry intends to restructure NTDC to bring transparency and efficiency to its work.

The Senate panel called for increased transparency in the NTDC operations. The committee was given a detailed briefing on all the ongoing and completed projects regarding the power division under multilateral and bilateral partners, along with the details of the tendering process, consultants, and the interest paid by the federal government on these projects.

The total commitment for these projects was $4.351bn.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024