The government is all set to introduce E-tendering and E-billing system across the country to ensure transparency in road projects’ implementation.
Minister of State for Communications Murad Saeed, while talking to media persons, said that in a bid to ensure transparency and accountability in Ministry of Communications, E-Tendering system would be launched across the country, replicating the one introduced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
To enforce strict monitoring and maintain check and balance on the system; “we would be introducing an E-Billing system, said the minister, adding that there are many loopholes in toll tax collection”. He also asked for details as to whom these tolls were awarded to and how.
The Minister has also directed to launch a smartphone application (app) within a month to provide necessary information, particularly the project’s implementation, execution and progress. “This application is not new as it’s already been functional in most of the developed countries,” official added.
Saeed ordered a third-party forensic audit of 34 delayed road projects, whose cost has escalated by around 40 percent incurring billions in losses to the national exchequer.
Further, he also requested an inquiry into the road projects launched during the last government’s five-year tenure while belying them that the nation was kept in ignorance on the western route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and even token money was not allocated in previous budgets.
However, the minister vowed to continue the ongoing projects launched by the previous government with a special focus on CPEC projects.
The Minister ordered for an audit of all delayed projects since 2002 till 2014 and claimed that legal procedures would be followed in the accountability process.
Hopefully it doesn’t turn out like the FBR’s IT systems where the old
computer illiterate bureaucrats demand hard copies from tax payers
despite having access to the computer system. Example:
>“(However) it appears that such delays are being deliberately caused for some ulterior motives, as the commissioner also demands a hard copy of the online request, which is not understandable as the Iris is a centralised system, providing access to FBR officials and to maintain a paperless environment,” he added.
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In many developed and developing countries E-tendering is part of centralized ERP through which a large number of organizations are connected, get funds from federal or state government.
Standalone E-tendering isn’t a complete transparency solution, other functions of any government organization should also be integrated through ERP and all federal government entities should be integrated with one ERP.
E-tendering has number of tasks which you can not complete online, like technical and financial evaluation. People working on the top in ministries are usually corrupt and influence such evaluations. Therefore E-Tendering looks fancy but can fail if a proper tight procedure and evaluation criteria is not in place.