LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has cancelled the administrative contract of Orange Line Metro Train Project (OLMTP) due to irregularities.
The Chief Minister is head of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA).
Sources at the CM House revealed Sunday that the 10-year contract of 60 billion for Operation and Administration of (OLMTP) was awarded to a Chinese company which was cancelled on legal and technic al basis. It was told that the former Managing Director of PMTA, Subtain Fazal Haleem, was involved in the preparations of the documents of the contract and six months before his service contract expired and he was not given further extension under the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The sources further revealed that the approval of the rules and regulations for the contract was not obtained from the respective competent authority.
Following the election of the Chinese company, they added, an approval was taken.
Sources told that various departments of the concerned authority reviewed the legal and financial wings of the contract and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) cancelled the contract last week.
They said that the chairman of the committee subordinate to the Planning and Development had hinted at various problems in the process of awarding the contract which was for 5 years but Chinese company was awarded contract for 10 years.
In addition to this, operational expenditures were extra ordinarily high whereas the full project and train are the ownership of the Punjab government.
It is worth mentioning here that PMTA has been reconstituted includes Provincial Minister for Transport, two MNAs, four MPAs, Secretary Finance and Transport, PND Chairman and former Transport Secretary.
