The committee also requested the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to launch further investigations into everyone involved in the project, and directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and CAAN to immediately get the contractors to carry out repairs. [break]
The committee acted after inspecting the 3,050-meter runway and helipad on Wednesday and grilling Civil Aviation Secretary Ganesh Raj Joshi, CAAN Director General Ram Prasad Neupane, the contractors for both components of the TIA Improvement Project, the consultant for the overlay project and the project director on Thursday.
“We came to the conclusion that the extremely poor quality of the work led to the need for repairing the overlay and helipad less than six months after the work was completed,” said PAC Chairman Ram Krishna Yadav.
Dhan Raj Gurung, member of the PAC, said the committee found clear indications of irregularities.
“It is clear that raw materials used in the overlay and helipad construction were sub-standard. The condition of the helipad is particularly awful. Of the 27 million rupees supposedly spent on the helipad, I think work worth only seven million rupees was actually done,” Gurung said.
The quality of work at the airport came under the scanner after several international flights had to be diverted on June 21 because a portion of the overlay flaked off. It was the fourth hold-up caused by overlay defects this month, with flights affected on June 2, 7 and 12 also.
The 50 mm asphalt overlay was completed in February this year at a cost of Rs 290 million.
PAC´s decision absurd: ministry
Meanwhile, a senior official at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said PAC´s decision directing the ministry to take action against the guilty cannot be executed since a valid investigative agency has not pronounced anyone guilty.
“How can the committee decide that someone is guilty without a thorough and neutral investigation by a credible investigative agency or a probe by an expert committee? And how can the committee instruct that people be punished while also requesting the CIAA to launch an investigation to establish whether irregularities have indeed taken place. The decision is absurd,” said the official, preferring anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.
“The ministry cannot take action against anyone. Let the CIAA investigate and take action if wrongdoing is established,” said the official. “The committee´s decision is a political one. No one can be convicted without a legally valid investigation,” the official added.
Contractor defends overlay
Meanwhile, the overlay project contractor has termed the committee´s decision confusing.
“Under our contract with our employer, there is an internationally accepted procedure to deal with issues related to the contracted work,” said Suman Subedi, director of Tundi Construction Pvt. Ltd. which did the overlay work in a joint venture with China Railway Engineering Corp.
“Under the contract, if our employer is unhappy with our work, they can tell the consultant to identify the problem and suggest a solution, which is what the consultant is trying to do at the moment. If that doesn´t work, a dispute resolution expert is hired. If that too doesn´t work, things go to arbitration and then to court. We have so many avenues to address problems seen in the overlay work,” said Subedi, adding, “I am unclear where the parliamentary committee´s decision leaves this agreed process of addressing problems.”
CIAA is investigating
Meanwhile, CIAA spokesperson Ishwari Poudel said the commission is already investigation the runway contract deal.
A team led by CIAA Deputy Inspector General Ramesh Chandra Bajracharya is investigating an old complaint that alleges corruption during the awarding of the runway overlay contract.
The runway overlay work, which was a cosmetic measure meant to lay 50 mm of asphalt concrete over the 36-year-old runway, began in March 2009 and ended in February 2011. The project´s consultant is GEOCE Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
Under the FIDIC (international federation of consulting engineers) contract, the overlay contractor is bound until February 2012 under defect liability for any defect in the work.
The construction of the helipad was undertaken by CAAN under a local contract. The helipad construction began in November last year and concluded in February this year. The helipad is now completely useless.
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