Purchase of used vessels by PNSC: PPRA declines to give final opinion

ISLAMABAD: The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has reportedly declined to give any final opinion on procurement of two used vessels by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC), saying there was no restriction on procurement of second-hand vessels in 2010.

Managing Director (PPRA) presented the agenda and informed the Board that the PM Office in a letter of October 04, 2024, had desired that specific recommendations of the PPRA Board shall be furnished regarding veracity of the minutes of tri-partite meeting held on May 05, 2010, allowing PNSC to proceed as per Rule 42 of Public Procurement Rules, 2004.

MD (PPRA) further informed the Board that the report of “Inquiry into the Financial Corruption in the Purchase of Two Used AFRAMAX Vessels at exorbitant prices” prepared by the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) was placed before PPRA Board in its 78th Board Meeting held on August 09, 2024 on directions of PM Office, wherein the PPRA Board deliberated upon the report and endorsed the recommendations of the PMIC inquiry report and further directed that Procurement Regulatory Framework should be revised in line with international best practices having provisions for the procurement of second-hand used items, where necessary.

PNSC skipped tender, bought two used vessels directly?

The PPRA Board endorsed the policy recommendations of the report relevant to PPRA and directed PPRA to strengthen its monitoring function as required under Section 5 of PPRA Ordinance, 2002.

MD (PPRA) further stated that in pursuance of PM Office directives regarding the veracity of the tri-partite meeting, the case has been examined afresh. In order to verify the authenticity of minutes Jamil Rathore, Ex-DD, PPRA, one of the meeting participants, was called upon who recorded his statement with regard to the veracity of the tri-partite meeting minutes and stated that the minutes were according to the discussion undertaken during the meeting.

MD (PPRA) further proposed that names of various other stakeholders/ officials are also mentioned in the inquiry report; therefore, Board may endorse the recommendations of the report to the extent of its relevance with PPRA only. One of the Board members opined that the issue does not pertain to invoking Rule 42 of Public Procurement Rules 2004, which is related to alternate procurement method, but in fact the issue arose when they (PNSC) procured second-hand vessels.

Another member opined that procurement rules explicitly did not bar procuring agencies from the procurement of second-hand items, until National Standard Bidding Document for Procurement of General Goods, 2022 were notified in the Gazette of Pakistan dated July 20, 2022 by the Authority, wherein procurement of used/ second-hand items was prohibited.

The procurement in hand was conducted from 2010 to April, 2022; therefore, these bidding documents were restrictive and not applicable in the instant case. One of the Board members opined that the Board could not certify the veracity of minutes as none of the members were present at that time.

After detailed deliberations, the Board took the following decisions:

(i) the Board examined the case afresh and concluded that it had endorsed the policy recommendations of the report relevant to PPRA and directed PPRA to strengthen its monitoring function as required under section 5 of PPRA Ordinance 2002 and reiterated its decision that Public Procurement Regulatory Framework of PPRA should be revised in line with international best practices having provisions for the procurement of second-hand/ used items, where necessary; and

(ii) the Board also decided to convey to PM Office that prior to the notification of the National Standard Bidding Documents for Procurement of General Goods, 2022, notified in the Gazette of Pakistan on July 20, 2022, there was no restriction on the procurement of second-hand/ used items.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024