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Floating Power Houses
The Urdu daily ‘Pakistan’ dated 28th October 2008 quoting the
minister for power Raja Pervez Ashraf carried a bold headline on
the front page that floating power houses aboard naval ships have
arrived and the load shedding will finish”. It is a welcome news
though quite sudden and unexpected one. When were the tenders for
such floating Power Houses on Ships called for and who all
participated in the tendering? Have these power house ships been
purchased or hired? After all such ships must have cost billions to
the exchequer and that too in the already dangerously short foreign
exchange in our coffers. There is a perception (or misperception)
that a nation wide hype is cleverly engineered by the interested to
create an acute shortage of a commodity – say - wheat, sugar,
fertilizer, gasoline, power, even vegetables – onion, potatoes and
tomatoes etc. which are imported from abroad post haste on emergent
basis, setting aside all transparent and proper procurement
procedures. Thus affording the opportunity of minting millions
overnight by their planners and executers. After all it would take
anything from 6 months to a year in the planning, negotiating,
contracting and the execution of such Power House Ships arriving
from God knows where and with what journey time to Karachi waters.
Could someone more knowledgeable please put us wise on such
exceptionally expeditious tremendous performance of the ministry
concerned?
Truly
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi.
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