Our correspondent;
Muzaffarabad: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Minister for Works and Communication Chaudary Muhammad Aziz has said government has save Rs 680.28 million by introducing Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in the state.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday he said present government for the first time took a revolutionary step to ensure transparency and competitive bidding system in Azad Kashmir by awarding contracts of 37 projects of 445 kilometers roads and 764 meters bridges under the PPRA rules and ended decades old direct contracting system and blackmailing of the contractor mafia.
The contractors, he added, are bound under contractual obligations to do and complete the construction work in line with the tendering specification within the specified time.
The contracts are awarded to the lowest bidders against the cash guarantee to ensure that contractor will complete the project within the estimated cost and in precise time. He said that two separate committees have been constituted to award the contracts under rules and complaints committees are also working to address the complaints of contractors and general public.
Claiming that AJK government is striving hard to reform the contract awarding system, the minister said that pool system has been completely eliminated after the enforcement of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules in Azad Kashmir.
Saying that PMLN government after coming to power has not dropped any development project of the past government, Minister works and communication said 7 phases of past project have been completed and development work on phase 8 is under way.
Explaining the newly adopted bidding system the minister said that tenders committee of the government awards tenders to the qualified contractors or companies keeping in view their technical and financial capacity.
He said that all 37 development projects of 445 kilometers roads and 764 meters bridges of estimated cost 8.13 billion were awarded through the transparent bidding system that resulted into huge saving of public money.
Minister Chaudhry Aziz invited the media persons to visit the under construction projects in all districts of Azad Kashmir and point out anomalies in the construction work, if they found any.
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