islamabad - The Federal Directorate of Education purchased 70 faulty buses costing Rs460 million for public sector schools during the first phase of Prime Minister’s Education Reforms Programme from a private company, an official told The Nation on Saturday.
The official further added that the FDE paid around Rs468293000 (above 460 million) for seventy buses previous year to a private company, in which 10 major mechanical faults were reported after a few months.
PMERP was launched in 2016 to reform and upgrade 423 schools and colleges functional under FDE. Out of nearly Rs04billion allocated for the program, Rs1.5 billion was sanctioned for the provision of 200 buses to educational institutions, said the official.
Though the FDE purchased 70 buses the previous year and allocated them to different educational institutions, soon technical problems on a massive level were reported in the designs and manufacturing of the buses.
According to the official, the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) constituted a three-member committee to investigate mechanical issues in the buses, and it found ten major defects in these buses provided to FDE by the company. “Out of seventy nearly 40 buses are functional and the rest were anchored after the observation of the committee to reduce the risk factor on road,” said the official.
According to documents available with The Nation, a committee comprising technical members, drivers and head of the institutions identified that the buses were facing mechanical faults in brakes, roofs, gauge meters, front screens, wiper machines, weak engine, gear oil leakage, gearbox problem and weak Kamani.
The committee also found out that the Kamani installed in the buses was not according to the specification of the buses while brake pressure was also not being maintained. Moreover, the material which is used in the bus body was also defective and water continued to penetrate inside the buses due to a leakage in the roof.
The official also added that the gear shifting of the buses was also hard and oil seal of the gearbox also had a leakage. After the committee findings, CADD’s finance department raised an objection on the summary prepared by FDE for purchasing 130 more buses, though the purchase committee had awarded the contract to a private company in the month of January this year.
According to fresh terms and conditions with the company, all payments will be made after a detailed inspection by designated teams, after an approval by the competent authority followed by a performance guarantee to be provided from the date of complete delivery.
CADD also demanded the availability of spare parts from the company in writing, in a new deal.
Director Administration FDE Dr. Tariq Masood responding to The Nation said that the company had provided a one year guarantee of the mechanical condition of the vehicles and FDE sought a performance report of the buses after completion of that period.
Moreover, he said that few technical problems in the vehicles were reported which were fixed by the company in a specified warranty period. Dr. Tariq also added that a second tender was given to another company as it has given a lesser rate than the earlier company.