A PPP member of the Punjab Assembly filed in the Supreme Court earlier yesterday a petition challenging a contract awarded to a Chinese firm for developing a solar park to produce 900MW of electricity.
MPA Khurram Jehangir Wattoo has requested the court to order cancellation of a letter of interest issued to the Chinese Zoenergy company for funding the Quaid-i-Azam solar park project in Cholistan near Yazman, about 30km from Bahawalpur. The project will cover over 5,000 acres of land.
The petitioner also wants the court to hold the people concerned, including Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, accountable for alleged lack of transparency.
According to Mr Wattoo, the project is being developed after bypassing Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules which do not allow any public procurement without competitive bidding. He claimed that after completion of the project, roads, canal water, security paraphernalia, land and allied infrastructure would be run entirely on taxpayers’ money.
