02-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Senate panel uncovers corruption in NHA contracts
ISLAMABAD: The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro, was convened on Friday to address serious allegations of irregularities, collusive practices, and potential corruption in the awarding of contracts for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche-III corridor project by the National Highways Authority (NHA).
The committee uncovered significant concerns regarding NXCC's prior disqualification, arbitration conflicts, payment discrepancies, document manipulation, and collusive bidding practices.
The chairman committee pointed out that contract was initially awarded based on auditor sheets without verifying the credentials of M/s Dynamic Constructors, M/s Rustam Associates, and M/s M/s Ningxia Communications Construction Co, Ltd (NXCC).
The committee maintained that M/s NXCC is a non-performing firm and is currently involved in litigation related to the Multan-Lodhran project.
Surprisingly, NHA proposed Zafar Hussain Siddiqui as an arbitrator, despite his past association with the first lowest bidder to M/s Dynamic Constructors and M/s Rustam Associates Construction Companies.
Senator Saifullah Abro presented a money trail with bank statement that clearly indicated Zafar Hussain Siddiqui's prior affiliation with the JV partners of M/s NXCC.
However, the NHA maintained that it had no prior knowledge of the arbitrator's connection with either party. After thorough discussion, the chairman committee recommended that NHA file a petition in the Supreme Court against the award, as the circumstances strongly suggest official mala fide intent to clear M/s NXCC from litigation and non-performance issues ultimately facilitating the award of the ADB CAREC Tranche-III (Rajanpur-DG Khan-DI Khan) Project.
The secretary, Ministry of Communications also questioned the concerned NHA officials, asking how this situation was allowed to occur.
Furthermore, Senator Saifullah Abro informed the committee that NHA had submitted incomplete documents.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
