The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has directed the Maritime Security Agency and Port Qasim authorities to prevent the rental power plants Karkey from crossing the Pakistani sea limits Saturday, Geo News reported.
According to sources, NAB would seek the Supreme Court’s approval before allowing the ships to leave for their respective country.
NAB had earlier allowed the four Karkey ships to leave the country but according to the SC order, M/s Karkey has to refund the advance and other pending amounts due to which the rental power plants have now been barred from leaving the country.
The Transparency International had reported a mega corruption scandal of the present times to the prime minister in which the NAB allegedly cleared one of the rental power plants without recovering $220 million from it.
The corruption watchdog had requested Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to take notice of this huge embezzlement done in connivance with the NAB where M/s Karkey RPP has been allowed to leave Pakistan without paying the recoverable money.
Interestingly, the name of PM Ashraf is also among the accused persons in the RPP cases. Transparency has warned that if M/S Karkey were allowed to leave Pakistan, then all recovered amount in the RPP case would have to be refunded to others as well.
According to the orders of the Supreme Court announced on March 30, 2012 in the RPP case, besides other actions, the court directed the government to take the following action to recover all payments made to the RPPs with mark-up, who had failed to achieve CoD within the stipulated time; “Para 84 (vi) The Ministry of Finance, WAPDA, Pepco as well as Gencos are responsible for causing huge losses to the public exchequer, which run into billions of rupees by making 7% to 14% down payments and purchasing electricity on higher rates, from RPPs, therefore, steps are required to be taken to effect recovery of the amounts with mark-up outstanding against the RPPs whose contracts have been signed off or who had failed to achieve CoD within the stipulated time in terms of the performance guarantees”.
Another paragraph number 38 is quoted below; “38. Mr. Kamal Anwar, ASC assisted the court as Amicus Curiae. He submitted that advance payment was made to 9 RPPs, namely, Karkey, Gulf Rental Power, Reshma Power, Techo Sammundri Road Faisalabad, Techno Sahuwal Sialkot, Guddu, Young Gen, Naudero-I and Naudero-II, details whereof have been given hereinabove. None of them could achieve CoD within time, on account of which their contracts were signed off. Statedly, the bank guarantees furnished on behalfof all the bidders have also been encashed. Out of said RPPs, the advance payment was returned by Reshma, Techo Sammundri Road Faisalabad, Techno Sahuwal Sialkot, Guddu, Young Gen and Naudero-II. However, Karkey (231.8 MW), Gulf (62 MW), Naudero-I (51 MW) and Reshma (201 MW), which are still functioning, had achieved delayed COD.
Transparency has calculated the recoverable amount paid to M/s Karkey, which is estimated to be $220 million. ‘Accordingly, recovery from Karkey RPP which failed to achieve CoD within the stipulated time, works out to be approximately $220.76 million. Karkey was paid 14% advance $79.05 million; $7.654 per month from April 2011 to March 2012 ($91.84 million); Total to be repaid by Karkey is $170.89 Million; Bank interest for 3-1/2 years on $79.05 million is about $45 million, and for 1 year on $91.84 million is $12.87 million so the total recoverable amount from Karkey Power Plant is therefore $220.76 million’, Transparency has apprised the PM.
Karkey: "We abided by the agreement"
Karkey, the Turkish sister company of Karadeniz Holding, said it had abided by the agreement and the Pakistani government abolished it.
According to the agreement, fuel used for energy generation was to be supplied by the Pakistani government but since the supplies were either late or inadequate, they were incapable of producing the guaranteed amount, a company executive said. The executive added that the NAB did not find Karkey at fault and that the company is not considering arbitration. After the paperwork is complete the ship will leave the country.
The Karkey ships reached Karachi Port in late 2010 after winning an international bid for the project.
The 241-meter “Kaya Bey,” which has 220 megawatts of power, was also carrying aid containers prepared for victims of the Pakistani flood.
The biggest Turkish investment in Pakistan, the ships are capable of supplying 30 percent of the energy needs of Karachi’s population of 18 million when operated at full capacity.