ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: The National Highway Authority will open the financial bids for completion of work on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway.

Turkish contractor Bayinder was expelled from the project for its failure to complete two sections of the road on time.

The decision to invite “open bids” was made by the communications ministry after receiving stern instructions from the chief executive’s secretariat.

The ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with a group of local companies, led by SKB, and almost awarded work worth Rs13 billion without following the government’s tendering procedure.

The NHA, after receiving instructions from the CE’s secretariat for rebidding of the project, allegedly resorted to selective bidding, but that was abandoned.

Three parties are now bidding for the project — Frontier Works Organisation; Pakistan Motorway Contractors Joint venture, comprising local companies, SKB, Descon, Husnain Construction, Habib Rafiq Construction, Hakas, Sachal, Shahzaman, Mian Nisar company and Sanaullah & Moosid; and a Turkish consortium, comprising Limak, Teksar, Kolin, Izhar, Gammon, Karcon and MMB-Sky joint venture.

Further details and contracting process would be finalized after the approval of a bid.

The ministry had justified the expulsion of the Turkish contractor by promising that it would result in huge savings, including foreign exchange which the government had to pay to the company.

Under the original contract, the Turkish contractor was to hand over the project by December 2002. With the date a month away, the government has failed to contract a local company for completing the work.

The project’s cost, which at the beginning was estimated at Rs16 billion in 1993, has now gone well over Rs40 billion.

Sources expressed their apprehension that the project cost would go beyond Rs50 billion and the country would end up losing considerable amount in foreign currency to get out of the proceedings of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, where the Turkish company has gone.

Interestingly, for practical purposes, Bayinder is the “contractor” for the motorway and it has only been “expelled” from the site.

The government’s efforts to cash Rs600 million from the Turkish banks, which had offered the bank guarantee, have failed as the Turkish court has restrained them from cashing the guarantee till the dispute ends.

The issue has provided opportunity to NHA officials to make foreign trips.

Ex-chairman Maj-Gen Tariq Javed went to Turkey with a large entourage to engage a Turkish Law firm for contesting the case.

NHA Chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed also visited Turkey with officials to engage another law firm.