PPRA: defender or derailing Infrastructure Development in Pakistan

on 04/09/2018

(Focusing on PPRA application in Mega Infrastructure Projects)
By M. Haris Farooqi

“PPRA is followed so that this project may be executed”. This myth has been encircled us since last decade. Is it really true? Few pages of documents can ensure transparency? Is transparency really required in projects for project success? Is PPRA helping us or not?

Who is required to follow PPRA and who is actually following it? What is the real purpose of PPRA? Does it apply to all kinds of procurements? What is the role of an engineer/consultant if PPRA is governing rule and no one can deviate from this rule?

A few years ago, a meeting was organized for an Electrical and Mechanical (E & M) services for a huge/large infrastructure project. The tender submission date was due after a few days from the meeting. It has been informed in the meeting that PPRA rule is being followed and only Financial Bid will be received instead of Technical and Financial Bid together, as per the general practice of E&M projects.

After enquiring about this major decision, it is confirmed from authorities with confidence that all procurement is as per PPRA rule. The executing agency quoted PPRA 2009 rule 36. Procedures of open competitive bidding.– Save as otherwise provided in these rules the following procedures shall be permissible for open competitive bidding, namely:- (a) Single stage – one envelope procedure.– Each bid shall be comprised of one single envelope containing, separately, financial proposal and technical proposal (if any). All received bids shall be opened and evaluated in the manner prescribed in the bidding document.” Now the question as to why have not technical bids been invited in our case; because the word “if any” is attached with technical proposal requirement. (For information: the word “if any” is being removed from PPRA 2014 amended up to 06-01-2016). It was really shocking how PPRA is being interpreted wrongly for such large size E&M projects, or it was merely an anomaly in PPRA 2009 which is removed now?

PPRA website FAQ state answer of one of the important question as below:

Question: Only one tender/bid is received in response to a tender notice advertised in both or one of the media (Authority’s website/ print media), should the single tender be accepted or the tender is re-advertised.

Answer: Punjab Procurement Rules, 2014 don’t put any limit on a number of tenders/bids received in response to tender notices provided that, the procurement opportunity has been advertised in the prescribed manner. The single bid may be considered if it meets the evaluation criteria expressed in tender notice and is not in conflict with any other rules, regulations or policy of the Punjab Government. However, the procuring agency should make a decision with due diligence and in the light of Rule 4 “Principles of Procurement”.

As per general practice in the Government Projects, single Bid is supposed to go to re-bidding for at least three times before consideration. No one in the Government is supposed to accept or use this rule even it is clearly mentioned on the website. Even re-bidding/rejection is considered since this is not a violation of any rule because rejection or re-bidding is always the option for Client. However, the time duration for the re-bidding is added in the project timeline and a lot of time is wasted restricting timely execution of the project. In fact, everyone is reluctant in using this single bid acceptance method which creates ambiguities in the general public mind.

Another question in the website state as below:

Question: Can procuring agency reject bids without assigning any reason?

Answer: In terms of Rule 35(1) of the Punjab Procurement Rules 2014 the procuring agency may reject all bids or proposals at any time prior to the acceptance of a bid or proposal. The procuring agency shall immediately give notice of rejection of bid(s) to all bidders. On request of the bidders, the Procuring Agency shall intimate the reasons for rejection of bids but will incur no liability on this account nor is required to justify the rejection of bids.

The procuring agency is authorized to reject the bid and is not liable to give justification. At one end PPRA seems the sole authority for any decision and no one is authorized to take any decision beyond the PPRA rules and regulation and at the same time giving full authority to the agency for rejection what so ever. This may lead to manipulation of authority since it seems the only power in the hands of the agency.

Projects handled by rules or executed with authority are two different spectrums in Pakistan. Interpretation of rules is still in the hand of the agency. We are giving the opportunity to the procuring agency to shift responsibility to PPRA rules by using it and applying it by their own requirement. The Projects look protected and secured in the hands of Engineer/Consultant; however, they are forced to follow the rule.

Recently we faced another serious issue in many of the E&M projects where the experience available in the market does not respond to prequalification criteria specifically PEC registration for the specified services is not meeting the requirement of the project even after 3-4 bidding processes. PPRA defines prequalification requirement to be met before proceeding, however, it is unable to define any situation arises due to unavailability of such experience in Pakistan. The Answer is “Go for international tender”, which means much higher cost, more time duration and failure in utilizing of our own resources. Interestingly “Joint Venture” details are available partially for Consultant selection but PPRA 2014 is silent about “Joint Venture” option for contractors. The international tender shall be required when no experience of such services are available at larger or smaller scale in the local market. Preference shall be given to local bidder with a joint venture from International bidder (if required).

Any prequalification requirement shall be allowed to be relaxed including PEC certification criteria by the Procuring Agency to save time, develop local market and utilizing our own resources. What PEC certification tell us; how many engineers, funds, previous project financial size etc are available. But these criteria never discussed the pure technical expertise available to some contractor. We will further discuss this PEC certification requirement and its real importance in another article.

In a meeting of another private group project where the designer/R&D expert is foreigner, He is an expert in developing renewable resources in Pakistan and working efficiently in his area of renewable resources. During the meeting, he stated, “Thank God this is not government project and we don’t need to follow PPRA”. I don’t need to comment on it further and I believe this is self-explanatory.

Different provinces in Pakistan are following different versions of their own provinces which are quite different from each other although they are typically originated from federal PPRA. In one of the meetings held in Peshawar, I reminded that Client continuously asking me to forget Punjab PPRA and follow KPPRA. I was quiet on this issue because I believe there would be no significant difference in format of both but when I returned from the meeting, downloaded KPPRA and I found myself in real trouble to have complete paraphrasing with many alterations, as there is now more interpretations and more confusion. Moreover, how can bidders from other provinces understand their requirements if they are using a different version of the same document?

The chapter – II Procurement Planning, item 10 “Specifications” Punjab PPRA 2014, is a real mess for public procurements favoring equipment and material to be used of cheap and lowest quality from China and Korea etc. With no offense to our long and strong friendship with these countries, Pakistan is just a dumping place of scrap for them in most of the cases. This rule prohibits preparation of specification with brand names or similar (origin) and promotes open bidding for all the brands in the world. We are not technically strong enough to rule out any low-quality product by preparation of strong technical specification. At the same time, our incapability also prevents us from procuring good quality products from these countries which are manufactured for America and western countries. Theoretically, PPRA is correct in this clause but application in Pakistan is a real sabotage of long-term services of the project component. We must give authority to a concerned specialist to decide this manufacturer country of origin, a list with enforcement of at least 3 equal options to avoid favoritism of any single brand/origin. In addition, the same clause is not applicable to ‘Private Client’ which actually again raises questions about the application of procurement rules for a private organization or not. Why does not a private organization follow unified rules for procurement?
PPRA rules were initially developed for Private companies to follow, however, at the moment their implementation is really focused on government project only and private companies really do not care PPRA at all. In a recent update of 2016, the word PUBLIC is added which further confirms/validate this. We need to see that private procurement shall also be regularized by some rules and regulation and exempted them for any procurement process will be another disaster in long-term effective and diversified growth of infrastructure in Pakistan.

PPRA rules can only guarantee transparency if followers want to follow it for transparency, otherwise, it’s become a mess or haven for persons who want to manipulate it for their own cause. The society shall be developed to understand the principles of public procurement and its effect on the infrastructure development overall. Such procurement tends to become disasters for projects and common public, such misprocurement are quite evident around us in hospitals, highways/roads, and infrastructure projects.

The competent authority must have more power and project cost limit to award project without following PPRA or any other rule. Their authority reduces chances of misprocurement due to their real capability to understand such procurement process as per prevailing market trends.

The PPRA rules shall be unified for federal and provinces. The PPRA rules shall be reviewed on yearly basis and updating by the expert panel shall be added /deleted as per successful/unsuccessful project experience instead of merely following the rules of other countries and expertise of higher qualification with less experience in Pakistan. Experts from the market are required for procurement principles formulation. (The author is Principal Engineer NESPAK)

‘Grow in Pakistan’ ODE’s target

on 04/09/2018

Ozan Turan, Intl Business Dev Executive unveils how  ODE spread its business in Europe and Asia

ODE Insulation is one of the most important manufacturers of insulation materials in Turkey. It is 100% Turkish company and operates with the target of being a global brand.

It exports its products to 5 continents primarily to Europe and Asia and recently has concentrated to increase its market share in Pakistan.

We had an interview with Ozan Turan, an International Business Development Executive of the company about what ODE Insulation has performed and their targets. Turan stated that ODE Insulation is among the top players in the sector in Turkey with over 4 thousand product variety and continues to be preferred in prestigious projects around the world for its quality.
Turan also added that in 2018 they focused on export and lately export became the driving force in their growth.

Could you give us a brief information about ODE Insulation?

As ODE we carry on all of our activities with the target of being a global brand created in Turkey. We are the only brand which is a hundred percent locally owned insulating company operating in our country. We are among the biggest producers in our sector with three manufacturing plants, over four thousand product types and expert teams of people. We are producing extruded polystyrene thermal insulation material with the ODE Isıpan brand; waterproofing membranes with the ODE Membran brand; glass wool used in thermal, sound and fire insulation with the ODE Starflex brand; elastomeric rubber foam used in HVAC insulation material with the ODE R-Flex brand.

Our goal is to be the leader in waterproofing. We are producing waterproofing bitumen membranes in every segment and developing new products in this field in our on-premise R&D
center. Among the recently produced products, we have a membrane with aluminum folio and membrane for the viaduct. We are the preferred brand in important projects like the 3rd airport in Istanbul, city hospitals and we supply thermal, waterproofing and mechanical insulation materials to almost all the city hospitals in Turkey.

What are your export targets?

In 2018, particularly in the context of the new product development, we have focused on R&D operations and on export in order to grow in the new markets. We have allocated a very serious budget for our R&D activities, which we carry on totally with our own technical employees and our own know-how. We have declared this period as the advancement for ODE. ODE has become a regional brand; our goal now is to carry our brand to the global arena. We have already caught up an important momentum in the export business and during the first four months of the year, compared to the same period of the last year, we have increased our export 35% in US Dollar.

For the coming period, we are planning to increase our export with the new products that we will develop according to the needs of the markets in target countries.
In which regions are you more effective in export markets?

Our company currently exports to five continents and is expanding its export network rapidly, mainly focusing on Europe and Africa and South America. We are growing fast in our region especially in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. Our target as ODE is to increase the number of countries that we export more than $ 1 million. For the following period, we will direct our efforts to foreign markets, heavily to Asia and to Europe. In all our actions we take a global point of view. Today in ODE we speak 13 different languages. Last year, we have accomplished 24 different country visits and spent 337 days out of 365 in foreign countries for visits, exhibitions, and seminars. This year it looks like we will even exceed these figures.
Would you also briefly inform us about your targets in Pakistan?

Pakistan is a good market which is fast growing and especially in recent years drawing important foreign investments. It is a country open and suitable for cooperation in almost all fields, including the tourism sector, infrastructure projects, newly opened factories and the healthcare sector. All these bring together the increase in construction projects in the country.

And as ODE in Pakistan, we have concentrated to increase our market share and to take our part in major on-going construction projects. For example, ODE products were used in Orange Line Light Rail Metro Project which contributes to the transportation of Lahore, which is the second largest city of Pakistan. ”With the help of our partner QMB, we aim to become one of the preferred brands in insulation in Pakistan with our quality.”

Italian engineering university invites Prof. Dr. B.S Chowdhry to conduct Ph.D. examinations

on 04/09/2018

Politecnico di Milano Italian, highly ranked Engineering University invited Prof. Dr. Bhawani Shankar Chowdhry (Distinguished National Professor) to evaluate Ph.D. thesis in Nanotechnology and Advance Integrated optics.

During his visit, he visited advance research centers (clean room) and laboratories (optics and photonic lab) in Politecnico di Milano. He also initiated collaboration with Photonic Devices Group of Politecnico, which will help to advance and boost the research and development activities in optical communication in Pakistan.

It is a proud moment specifically for MUET and in general, for Pakistan that Professor from developing country was invited in a developed country to conduct a Ph.D. defense examination. It is heartening to note that Professor Chowdhry also conducted Ph.D. examinations in Denmark, Ireland, and Malaysia in the past.

Founder and Foundation Civil Engineering – Thematic Guideline

on 04/09/2018

Founder and Foundation, “And when it is being ordered by Almighty Allah to Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S)” to initiate the development of Holy Khan-e-Kaba, the most respectable and precious place on the earth. As assigned to him, it was built up by keeping its foundation strong from all sides in order to offer prayers and “Hamd-o- Sana” for the God of this universe.

Basically, it was the indirect break-through and start of Civil Engineering by “Khalil Ullah” (Hazrat Ibrahim A.S). When the work is to be done by dedication, care, and effort, the contribution of Allah has embarked on the establishment.

Due to the blessings of Allah, the holy city of Makkah was entitled with “Umm –ul-Qura”, so we can also give the title of “Umm -ul– Hunr” (the field of skills and technology) to Civil Engineering as technically both concepts had developed simultaneously. If serious consideration is given to Civil Engineering then it seems that each step of this program is based on full mercies of Allah. For example, the destruction of the ground with the heel rubbing of Hazrat Ismail (A.S) and the start of “Zam Zam (Water)” resembles with the field of “Water Resources Engineering”.

Furthermore, the preparation of a small pond or cistern by Syeda Hajra (A.S) to stop that particular water is basically the “Irrigation Engineering”. Then orientation of different valuable and precious stones for the development of Khan-e- Kaba is “Construction Engineering” while to make this holy structure high rise is “Structural Engineering”. We can predict the reflection of “Construction Management” when comes to the item synchronization of this productive development. Certainly, after this construction, the great city of Makkah was entirely developed in a way that we can correlate it with the idea of the specific field which is “Town planning”. Not only that, the positional directions of Kaba as given by the God of this universe like Hateem, Maqame Ibrahim, Rukne Yamani and Multazim are the features as translated in the subject matters of “Surveying/ Leveling” and “Global Positioning System” nowadays. At the time of Hajj, people travel from all over the Islamic world in order to visit this holy place is actually the idea of “Transportation and Traffic Engineering” because they use to travel in different modes of transportation including cars, buses, railways, and airways.

Above all, the areas of education in this world; open or hidden are specially based on clear perspective and clean vision that can be linked with any of the important ancient civilization. It is an undoubted truth from our Holy book “Quran-e-Karim” that individuals having the technical and sound knowledge and those who anticipate their skills with wisdom for the prosperity of mankind are given the reward of shining height by Almighty Allah. And this is what the sayings of Quran-e-Karim which is the best of its excellence amongst all books carrying huge awareness and guidance in all respects. But it is very unfortunate that most of us are not following or taking guidance with this; those who involved this precious guiding code in their daily matters are actually stepped forward for success and affluence of whole life.

If we look around us then all these high rise buildings, high mobilized underground/ surfaced Railway systems, occurrence of elements and minerals in the depth of sea and oceans, the arterials that perpetually connect cities and countries, dams/ reservoirs for water storage and electricity generation etc even all matters that benefit the mankind with the use of specific technology comes under the head of Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) or we can say he (A.S) is the founder of all and he (A.S) is the one who offers due for the birth of our follower and a complete personality “Hazrat Mohammad Mustafa” (S.A.W.W). (Idealized by Syed Faraz Jafri and written by Khawaja Sheeraz. Both are civil engineers)

Pak-India IWT talks remain inconclusive!

on 04/09/2018

Pak-India, there appears to be no breakthrough in two-day talks between experts’ teams of Pakistan and India which met in Lahore on Aug 30-31, 2018.

Had it been any meaningful outcome, they would have either talked to media or the organizers would have issued any communiqué.

Maybe it is how you look at the things like Water Resource Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja termed Indians’ permission of inspecting two hydropower projects 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnal a breakthrough.

Pakistani experts may visit the controversial projects at the end of next month. Also, Indian side assured their Pakistani counterparts of taking up Pakistani objections over the two projects seriously and resolve them amicably only after preparations of technical memorandums which would be presented in New Delhi meeting.

During the visit, Pakistani experts will examine the sites, construction in the light of the provisions of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and the objections raised by Pakistan to the aforementioned projects being executed by India over the Chenab River, Khawaja told a newspaper reporter.

Both delegations headed by Pakistani and Indian commissioners for Indus waters resumed talks which was held after 2014 and reiterated their stance over the construction of the projects.

The Indian side, led by Pradeep Kumar Saxena and Pakistani side by Commissioner for Indus Water Syed Mohammad Mehr Ali Shah reviewed Pakistan`s objections minutely.

Pakistan demands reduction in the height of Pakal Dul`s reservoir up to five meters, maintenance of 40-meter height above sea level while making spillways` gates of the Pakal Dul project, besides clarifying the pattern and mechanism for the water storage and releases and some technical concerns over the design of the Lower Kalnal hydropower project.

The two-day moot mutually decided that both countries would separately prepare technical memorandums based on their point of view and possible solutions.

The two countries stuck to their stances on the issue. Both the countries reiterated their stance in the meeting. However, the Indian delegation finally responded to Pakistan`s demand for looking into this issue in the next meeting, one of the participants say