Murad Saeed, the Federal Minister of Communications and Postal Services, introduced an e-bid scheme for the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The announcement came on Thursday at a ceremony held at the Islamabad headquarters of the NHA. The system has been established in the spirit of transparency during the NHA contract award process, according to a press release. The Minister himself, Communications Secretary Zafar Hasan, the Chairman of the NHA, Captain (ret) Sikander Qayyum, and other officials attended the ceremony.
Not only does the e-bidding platform strive to make the process more open, but it will also be a way to make the process quicker, simpler and more efficient. In his speech, Minister Murad Saeed said that this was in line with the long-term vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. By the use of automation and digitization, the new government, he said has continuously come up with ways to enhance government processes.
According to the Minister, the NHA deals with contracts worth billions of rupees at a time. This was a way to ensure the money went to the most deserving contractors. Murad Saeed also stated that on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis, the NHA plans to start road building projects. He listed the project on the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway and how work will begin next year on it.
The Secretary of Communications, Zafar Hasan, also applauded the system and highlighted its characteristics and how it would enhance the whole operation.
The future of such projects was discussed by both Murad Saeed and Zafar Hasan and how they plan to bring more improvements over the years. The Minister referred to changes in financial and administrative matters and the Secretary referred to the institutions’ performance evaluations on the basis of their use of technology.
