KARACHI: The multi-billion rupee Green Line bus project, which was meant to address the decades-long transport problems of Karachiites, is facing another controversy as this time a European company that had offered technological support and services for the project has sought a nod from the authorities to allow its team to visit the site “before inauguration” since it has came to know about installation of substandard equipment and materials by a local contractor under its name.

The Green Line project is being undertaken by the federal government through the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL).

The Spain-based GRUPSA company, which is considered to be one of the pioneers in automatic equipment supplies around the world and already waiting for a response from anti-graft bodies in Pakistan over its complaint against a “fraud” in its name by one of the local contractors, now wants its team of experts in Karachi to visit the project site where its “global credibility is at stake”.

The firm is keenly waiting for a reply from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as well as from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) regarding its complaint that it had provided platform screen doors (PSDs) for the Green Line project for a price of over a half million euros through a Pakistani contractor more than two years ago, but it learnt that its repute was at stake as the government of Pakistan was being charged more than 2.5 million euros for the services in its name through forged documents.

The disclosure led the company to dig more and it came to know through different sources about another practice which could badly affect its repute across the world.

In a statement, the Spanish company refers to different images it has found that shows low-standard equipment installed along the route of the Green Line project, which were never supplied by GRUPSA but the local contractor was using its name for selling the poor quality materials.

“We are writing for KIDCL [Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited] to advise a suitable time at the earliest so GRUPSA can visit Karachi before inauguration and get technical review with consultant and client officials at site to address the low standard and local material installed by MGH under GRUPSA name that is not only damaging our image but also giving huge loss to our credibility globally,” said the statement.

Agreement with local firm not renewed

Only a few weeks ago, the Spanish company lodged a written complaint with the cyber wing of the FIA after writing the same to NAB and the embassy of Pakistan in Madrid stating: “M/S MGH [Pakistani contractor] has prepared a false/forged/fabricated document/invoice of M/S GRUPSA and has claimed payment of Euro 2,732,232.76 [more than two million Euros] as total amount of manufacturer invoice from Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited [now transformed as SIDCL] on account of import of Automatic Platform Screen Doors from Spain.”

“As now [the issue of] BRT green line forge document and product installed images with low standard profiles and substandard fixing have been in the media, so it is pertinent to clarify that GRUPSA has no nexus with this fraud,” said the company statement.

“We would like to say to government of Pakistan that our working philosophy is always to assist our customers from the first steps of the project through to commissioning if necessary. We are therefore at your disposal for any technical consultation and any technical or design support, either by video call or on-site visit at your premises in Karachi. So we will be pleased to provide you with any additional information you may need from us,” it added.

The company, which has a history of doing business in Pakistan supplying technological support to different projects and providing the same services in Multan and Islamabad metro bus projects, also warns its partners and clients in the country to be cautious in the future.

“We would like to inform that MGH agreement is not renewed further,” it said. “We had also intimated MGH not to act as GRUPSA distributor anymore until the issue is resolved. We are also going to inform local clients in Pakistan to take their actions as per PPRA rules to watch MGH activities. We stand not responsible for MGH activities until MGH name does not get cleared from the investigating authorities.”

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2021