LAHORE, June 10: The contract for the Mangla Dam raising project was awarded in a transparent manner after meeting all contractual obligations, claims Wapda Chairman Tariq Hameed.

Talking to journalists here on Friday, he said the company, which got the contract, was the lowest bidder and the only one that was prequalified unconditionally by a group of evaluators.

The second lowest bidder was also prequalified but was put under the condition of a better performance on other projects, which it failed to achieve and lost a chance.

The Wapda chairman claimed that six companies competed for the project and categories for financial bids. The lowest one had the right and was awarded the contract.

About his presentation to the Standing Committee of the Senate, he said the honourable house sought clarification on the issue which Wapda was the most happy to explain. The matter, he said, should have been settled after the presentation. But, one of the members of the Senate committee, Dr Abdullah Riaz, accused the authority of foul play.

The situation was blown out of proportion, necessitating Wapda to correct the record, he said.

He claimed that the second highest bidder, who the senator seemed to be favouring, had already proved lethal for Gomal Zam dam. It left the project in October last when it was lagging 32 per cent behind the schedule after two of its workers were kidnapped. The authority duly compensated it for the tragic event and paid $150,000.

Instead of returning to work, however, the company had chosen to negotiate the contract with Wapda and was asking for $134 million (the original contract was $52 million) plus a 33-month extension.

How could the authority take risk of handing over another project to a company with such a track record, he wondered, iterating that it took an appropriate and legal step.

He defended Wapda’s right to take independent decisions, saying a charter vested such powers on Wapda. “If the legislatures have any problem with those powers, they should better legislate otherwise instead of going public with accusations,” he said.

Mr Hameed insisted that the progress of the Mangla’s raising project had been very satisfactory and the consultant had delivered a report to the authority, showing complete satisfaction with the performance of the contractor. In such circumstances, no one should question the performance of the contractor and plead in favour of any party.

He regretted that the matter had been taken to the public by one of the members of the Senate committee even when it had given a date to the authority to furnish more record on the subject. Such an overture would neither help the project nor improve the country’s image abroad, he concluded.