Trans-Peshawar and the evil axis of corruption!

Corruption has become an inevitable part of the governance in Pakistan and there is no part of it that can claim to be untouched by it. Its quantity has been increasing continuously in every successive regime whether it either Military rule or a civilian ‘elected’ government. Nowadays Pakistan's economy going through a bad phase and has to depend on credit, but even then corruption continues to grow. The bus rapid transit system built in Peshawar has now become the new victim of this corruption. This service started in August has been stopped indefinitely within a month. Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (Peshawar BRT) which also called Trans Peshawar is a bus rapid transit system in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The system was inaugurated on August 13, 2020, and is the fourth BRT system in Pakistan.

It is noteworthy that this project has been accused of corruption since the beginning. Pakistan’s Supreme Court In February 2020, stopped the probe conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for alleged irregularities in the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project. The Supreme court’s three-member bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial said in its verdict on a petition filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government challenging a previous verdict by Peshawar High Court on November 2019, which directing the FIA to conduct an inquiry into various aspects of this project.

The PTI led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan in December 2019 against the decision of Peshawar High Court (PHC) directing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe vast irregularities in the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

What is the matter?

In December last year, a five-member FIA special investigating team had started an inquiry on this issue on Peshawar High Court’s directions. Earlier to this, a high court bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Ahmad Ali had directed the FIA, after hearing three petitions related to complaints regarding corruption charges in the bus-transit system, on November 14, 2019, to probe the project in light of some 35 points and submit its report in 45 days. The bench had also ordered earlier to the National Accountability Bureau on Jul 17, 2018, to conduct a proper investigation and inquiry into the BRT's issue. And against this verdict, the KP government and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) had moved the Supreme Court.

Auditors report!

In September 2020, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) submitted a detailed report to the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa made shocking revelations about the corruption found in the BRT. The report said that buses cost worth Rs1.4 billion excessively and they were procured much too early in the middle of 2018 when the infrastructure on the project was not yet completed. Many of the buses have serious mechanical problems and they caught fire occasionally that forcing BRT services to be suspended just in a month after the inauguration in August 2020.

The KP government may now have to pay a larger subsidy for the BRT system. The Trans Peshawar management foresaw an estimated subsidy of Rs1.5 billion per annum for BRT operations, according to the audit report. The construction supervision contract worth Rs Rs615 million and US$ 1.977 million was awarded without fulfilling the criteria for performance assessment of the consultant.

Changes in the design also having a budgetary impact of Rs10.465 billion. According to the audit report non-imposition of the penalty and liquidated damages worth Rs1.9 billion. The report revealed the unauthorized and irregular payment from KP government shares worth Rs3.597 billion

China connection!

Trans-Peshawar was originally planned to use a fleet of 255 buses, of which 155 will be 12 meter-long buses, while 65 will be 18 meter-long articulated buses.

It is to be noted here that Lahore, one of the biggest cities of Pakistan, has only 65 buses in a similar bus rapid transit, which can meet the needs of the city. So what was the need of this kind in Peshawar which in comparison, in this small town, four times the buses were employed in Lahore?

The answer lies in corruption itself. All buses have been purchased from China. Buses are supplied by Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co., Ltd. is a Chinese joint venture company established in 1992, which is part of King Long, one of the largest bus manufacturers in China. King Long is a company under the umbrella of Fujian Motors Group.

Now, on one hand, the Peshawar High court wants to probe all this corruption. At the same time, the PTI-led government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is against this investigation. Now since the same PTI is also a ruling party at the center and a protégé under the almighty army of Pakistan.

The party and the military's relationship with China are not a matter of secrecy. In such a situation, the Supreme Court's decision to stop the investigation has done the job of exposing the misdeeds prevailing at the top level of Pakistan.