Pak Supreme Court rejects petition by Chinese firm's on Dasu dam

Islamabad [Pakistan], Oct. 26 (ANI): The Pakistan Supreme Court has rejected a plea by a Chinese company to allow it to take part in the bidding process of the 4,320MW run-of-the-river Dasu Hydro project on the Indus River. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali was aware of the petition by Messers Power Construction Corporation of China Limited (PCCCL) seeking a direction for the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) not to open the result of the pre-qualification of the bidding for the construction of the project in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Express Tribune. The hydropower project is being developed in two stages: Stage 1 includes installation of six hydropower units each of which will produce 360MW power, while in Stage 2, nine additional 360MW units will be installed. The apex court was informed by the Additional Attorney General Rana Waqar that the World Bank has the authority to approve the name of any company for the bidding of the dam and added it had asked the government to reject the Chinese company's plea to include it in the bidding process. Asking whether that was a "request" or a "direction", Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said, "Is it the government's stance that if a foreign company would invest in Pakistan and the government would not take any action against it? The petition moved by the Chinese firm is being represented by Advocate Salman Aslam Butt and challenged in the Supreme Court the June 29, 2016, intra-court appeal in the Lahore High Court in which the petitioner's request to suspend the operation of its disqualification from the bidding process was rejected. Butt urge the court to issue a notice to the World Bank to which Justice Azmat said when the World Bank is not a party in the case, then how they could issue a notice to it. WAPDA had announced in 2014 undertaking the project on the Indus River located at Dasu Town. The project is partly funded by the International Development Association (IDA) - an organisation forming part of the World Bank Group. Financing of Stage-1 of the project has been approved by the IDA with a credit of $588.4 million. WAPDA being represented by Shahzada Mazhar had contended that they (the Chinese company) are not the citizens of Pakistan and so they couldn't enjoy equal rights under Article 25 of the Constitution. He pleaded that they don't have any case and the guidelines protected in the agreement. (ANI)