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Bayinder may abandon Peshawar-Islamabad motorway project

AMER SIAL

ISLAMABAD: The fate of Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1) hangs in balance, as officials of National Highway Authority feel the contractor, Bayinder, may slip away without completing the project, highly placed sources said here on Thursday.

NHA chairman is likely to brief the chief executive about the crisis on January 29. He would be requesting Gen. Musharraf to use diplomatic channels to pressurise Bayinder for completing the project, sources said.

After briefing the chief executive, sources said, NHA was likely to get approval to raise the issue of non-interest of Bayinder in completing the project, with the Turkish government through the Foreign Office.

Turkish staff of the firm including project general manager, finance director, operations director and three general managers for the local operations have been sent back and 200 local engineers have been sacked. Instead of completing the project itself, the contractor violated the agreement by hiring 32 local sub-contractors for completing it.

The dues of these local contractors had not been paid for the last six months and the two parties were now sorting out the matters in court, sources said.

The contractor went to the court when the NHA asked it to explain the violation of agreement. The sources said that it appeared that the contractor was more interested in legal battles instead of executing the project.

Bayinder was given the contract for the building M-1 so as to strengthen the brotherly relations with Turkey, as their President Suleman Demiral had personally asked the then government for the award of the contract to the Turkish firm.

According to sources, $ 10 billion out of $ 16 billion have already been paid to the contractor while the progress ratio of work remains five percent of the total project.

The contractor was given a mobilisation advance of $ 5 billion against the rules to import new machinery for the construction but it brought some second hand machinery as a face saving device.

The contractor has already sought extension of six months to complete the project, which according to initial plan has to be completed by May next year, sources said.