Shershah bridge collapse inquiry report was tampered: Transparency International

[Naveed Yaseen]

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN
ISLAMABAD (May 07 2009): Prime Minister's Secretariat has been informed that the in 'Shershah bridge collapse', apparently prepared by a six-member panel, was tampered with to save the skin of some 'heavyweight culprits'. "The inquiry report, prepared by the six-member inquiry committee and announced to public in February 2009, 17 months after the accident and 12 months after it was submitted to you, is under criticism.

Allegations of tampering with the actual contents of the report have been levied by one member of the inquiry team," said Transparency International Pakistan (TIP), in a letter to the Chairman of Prime Minister Inspection Commission (PMIC) inquiry committee, Lieutenant General Farooq Ahmad Khan (retired), a copy of which has also been sent to Minister of Communication, Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Chairman, NHA and DG, NLC.

On September 1, 2007, a major part of the Shershah Bridge collapsed, killing 10 people. On September 23, 2007, the (then) Federal Minister for Communication, Shamim Siddiqui, issued a statement that the inquiry of the incident was complete and would be shown to the media before Eid. This deadline was not met.

In the letter, clarifications have been sought from PMIC Chairman as to why only three members of the inquiry team had signed the report. Out of the remaining three, one member has expired, but the signatures of two other members are also missing from the report.

One of the three members of the committee who had signed the report, Advocate Nasir J R Shaikh, reportedly stated that the report has been tampered with, and the word "criminal" was omitted on page 51, in the third paragraph of the "findings and fixing responsibilities" section. This para was actually "criminal neglect on part of NHA in media".

Page 3 of the inquiry report contains the names of the other members of the inquiry team which is missing from the investigation report posted on the website. TIP has also cited a report according to which PMIC inquiry committee comprised of Dr Sahibzada Farooq Ahmed Raffiqui, Farooq A Chaudhry, Zafar Razzak (late), Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Farrukh Hassan Pasha, Munir Ahmed Rana, and a lawyer whose name was not disclosed. These six members, mentioned on page 1 of the inquiry team report, do not include Farooq A Chaudhry, who was the only design engineer in the committee with practical experience as a bridge designer and supervision consultant.

The reinforced cement concrete (RCC) core test results, reported in section 7.2.2 on page 47, state that "for concrete strength, however, split results are reported, where strength from core are much lower than the desired strength. In spite of the deficiency found by inquiry team, the report has not blamed contractor, M/s NLC.

Instead, the report in section 7.2.3 has tried to exonerate contractors' deficiency by stating 'as is evident from the report that diameters of cores were smaller than specified in ASTM C-42 and that the core drilling machine was producing vibrations during drilling, both these factors contributed towards the low strength indicated by core tests'."

These remarks cast doubts on the technical abilities of the inquiry team members on the core testing procedures, as the tests were performed under supervision of the inquiry team members, and in the NED University lab. Why and under whose orders correct size of core samples were not obtained by the committee? Though the TOR for inquiry team was also to make recommendations for avoiding such tragedies in future, the report does not contain fruitful and concrete recommendations for avoiding such accidents in future.

According to the TIP, in fact the committee members seem to be ignorant of the Tendering Rules, Public Procurement Rules 2004. The statement on page 57 confirms lack of knowledge of the committee members on the procurement laws in Pakistan.

BIDDING PROCESS: Process of biding should be reviewed in the light of best value procurement system, instead of the existing system and no hiring of contractors or consultants should be allowed without competitive bidding". The Procurement Rules under the Statuary requirements under SRO 432(I)/ 2004. - 9 June, 2004, in all federal government departments are:

20. PRINCIPAL METHOD OF PROCUREMENT: Save as otherwise provided hereinafter, the procuring agencies shall use open competitive bidding as the principal method of procurement for the procurement of goods, services and works.

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