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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)
30, Westridge-1
Rawalpindi 46000
Tel: (051) 546 3344
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