Saif Refutes KP Govt Influence In Awarding Hotel Construction Contract

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Thursday denied allegations regarding provincial government's influence in awarding contract for the construction of a four Star Hotel at Nathiagali

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jan, 2022 ) :Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Thursday denied allegations regarding provincial government's influence in awarding contract for the construction of a four Star Hotel at Nathiagali.

He said, the process of awarding contract was done with full transparency and open competition as per the auction policy of GDA.

He said the Establishment of a 4 star or above category hotel project was placed before the Board of Authority (BoA) of GDA in its meeting held on 15-06-2019 and was approved by the BoA for outsourcing to a renowned firm on 99-year lease period.

This was done considering the need for a 4-star or above category hotel in the region to cater for the international visitors and to fully utilize the tourism potential of the area. He added, a private financial consultant was hired to develop a feasible financial model for the outsourcing of the land.

Barrister Saif said on 24th January 2020, The project was advertised in all leading national dailies inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) from potential investors. The detail pre-qualification documents were uploaded on GDA website. On 20th February 2020 a pre EOI bid meeting was held on 20/2/2020 to address any queries of interested bidders. Special Assistant said on 2nd March 2020 it was declared that Eight (8) firms applied for the said project. Out of these 8 firms, four (4) firms were pre-qualified, for the next stage i.e. issuance of Request for Proposals (RFP), as per the criteria laid down in the pre-qualification documents and on 26th November 2020 RFP document for Technical bids issued to Four (4) pre-qualified firms.

A pre-RFP/technical bid meeting was held on 8 February 2021 to address the queries and concerns of the qualified firms. Technical Bids were received from the pre-qualified firms and this process was completed on 26 march.

A committee comprising of members having background of Architecture, Finance and Environment was constituted to evaluate the bid environmentally, financially etc.

A thorough evaluation was carried out to determine if the firms had a sufficient profile and are capable enough to execute the project. The environment aspect of the project was given due importance during the project and a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was sought. The project will be constructed using environment friendly material with no cutting of trees and as per the building by-laws of GDA.

Barrister saif said Financial bids of the qualified firms were opened on 6 May in the presence of the bidders and the bid submitted by 'The Baron' was found to be the highest and well above the reserved price.

The Successful bidder is an international hotelier and already owns and operates two 5-star hotels in Kabul and Karbala.

Special Assistant said Letter of Acceptance from board was issued to the winning bidder on 20th May and on 9 June 2021 Agreement was signed between GDA and the winning bidder for 99 years. Barrister Saif strongly denied all the allegations regarding provincial government influence on contract awarding process.