The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has cancelled development tenders worth Rs8.92 billion covering 71 schemes in Khyber district, official sources said. The tenders were reportedly issued during the tenure of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whose home district is Khyber. The cancellation follows allegations of political favouritism and kickbacks, which have not been proven.
Cancellation notice and its stated purpose
The Secretary of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department issued a notification on November 6 cancelling the tenders, according to sources. A separate cancellation notice from the Executive Engineer of the Highway Division Khyber said that tender proceedings under various Annual Development Programme (ADP) schemes had been cancelled with immediate effect, subject to procurement rules and the approval of the competent authority. The ADP is the government's yearly plan for development projects. The notification said the step was meant to allow fresh scrutiny, verification and reassessment of the identified road schemes in light of site conditions, technical requirements and public needs.
Allegations and the investigation
The matter came to light after an anonymous complaint was sent to the C&W Secretary seeking cancellation of the tenders. Sources said the contracts were allegedly awarded on political grounds, with advance kickbacks of 5 to 10 per cent of the contract value. Complaints reportedly alleged that between Rs500 million and Rs900 million had been collected in connection with the schemes. Sources further said Rs5 billion of ADP projects in the district were allegedly linked to Naveed, described as a close associate of the chief minister, while Rs3.9 billion was linked to MPA Abdul Ghani.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged kickback network. According to sources, SDO Bara Ziaullah was taken into custody for questioning, and investigators reportedly obtained information about kickbacks in the distribution of contracts. C&W Executive Engineer Riaz was also questioned, and officials examined records from the past two years. Two schemes allegedly linked to MPA Abdul Ghani and Naveed have also come under scrutiny.
Concerns over how schemes were chosen
A separate application to the C&W Secretary argued that schemes were selected because of political considerations and favouritism, rather than public needs, regional priorities and ground realities. The applicant asked for the existing tenders to be cancelled and fresh tenders floated after a transparent assessment of each scheme on its merits. The allegations remain unproven, and the investigation is continuing.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Khyber district mein KP government ne 71 schemes ke Rs8.92 billion ke tenders cancel kar diye hain. Yeh faisla kickback aur siyasi favouritism ke alzamaat ke baad aaya hai, aur in alzamaat ki tehqiqaat jaari hain. Aam logon ke liye iska matlab yeh hai ke in schemes par kaam mein dair ho sakti hai, kyunke ab inki dobara jaanch hogi. Abhi tak yeh alzamaat sabit nahi hue hain.
