Copy of the letter of Mr. Altaf Durrani, CEO Trans Peshawar, addressed to the Board of Directors, Trans Peshawar, against his removal from the position and his defence. All of you can understand what has been going on but it reminds me of a common phrase “hurry spoils curry”!
I am writing this letter in response to the notification issued by the TMTD on May 02, 2018. Through the said notification I (CEO TransPeshawar) have been removed with immediate effect without stating any reason what so ever.
In my defense I provide the following details:
My understanding is that the government has proceeded with my removal on the grounds that TransPeshawar is responsible for the delay in the import of the buses and implementation of the ITS contract.
Over the last several months the Honorable Chief Minister has been insisting on completion of both these contracts by April 20th, later on he changed the date to May 20th.
I would categorically state that based on the requirements of the Asian Development Bank’s procurement procedures and the achieved pace of the civil infrastructure work, both the April 20th and May 20th dates were unrealistic and unjustified. TransPeshawar has followed the ADB’s procurement guidelines and did not cause any delay to the project. .As such, my removal from the post of CEO was unfair and unjustified; nothing but a case of witch hunting and scapegoating.
Based on TransPeshawar’s technical expertise, premature arrival of buses and ITS equipment would lead to a number of financial, operational and contractual issues for the company. For example, if the buses and ITS equipment were procured before April 20th, the government would already have been liable to pay a substantial amount of money to store and secure the buses and the ITS equipment. It will still be the case if the buses and ITS equipment arrive before May 20th as in TransPeshawar’s assessment the civil work will not be ready until early next year. In addition, the warranty will be voided as the buses and ITS equipment would remain idle and untested for a long time. This will have immediate cost impact as well as the long term operational and contractual issues.
In the TransPeshawar operational model, buses are being supplied by the Owner while the operation of the buses will be contracted out to a private vehicle operating company (VOC). To add to the complications our buses are equipped with diesel electric hybrid technology which is a completely new and untested technology in Pakistani environment. Due to these reasons it is very important to ensure the quality of the buses by implementing all the quality control mechanisms included in the contract and the consultant should not be pressured to provide approvals without ensuring full compliance. Otherwise if the quality is compromised and there are issues with the performance of the buses, the VOC may not be able to meet their KPIs which can lead to a premature failure of the bus operations. The financial, political and social consequences of such a failure will be catastrophic.
In the 5th meeting of the BoD, I presented a high level cost impact of early procurement of the buses and other risks which added up to approximately Rs 2 billion per year.
Since as early as September 2017, the issue of the bus delivery schedule has been raised by me on a number of occasions and at different forums including the BoD meetings. It was communicated to the government officials as well as the BoD members that the HCM’s desired schedule for importing buses cannot be met due to the procurement process dictated by the ADB procurement rules. Based on the October tender date the earliest time by which the delivery of the first batch of buses was possible was around Jun/Jul of 2018. Given the state of completion of the civil infrastructure even that date is earlier than required.
The BoD was apprised of various risks related to early arrival of buses, ITS equipment and other service related contracts through the working papers and minutes of meeting of the following meetings:
– 5th meeting of the BoD,
– 8th meeting of the BoD,
– 9th meeting of the BoD,
– 3rd meeting of the BoD Procurement Committee
Despite the identification of all risks, TransPeshawar was directed by the BoD to meet the HCM’s desired schedule. The decision of the BoD was based mainly on the repeated confirmations from DG PDA that all civil construction work will be completed by April 20th (this date later on changed to May 20th).
The TransPeshawar staff put their best efforts into expediting the delivery of buses to the maximum possible extent while remaining within the ADB procurement rules/approvals and the quality control requirements.
In order to meet the HCM’s desired schedule certain steps needed to be skipped which required approval from the BoD. At the 9th meeting, the BoD was requested to approve the following two items:
– Impose a forced approval of the prototype unit and the detailed design on the bus supplier by April 22 so that the bus mass production could start on Apr 23.
– Pay the additional $30,000 per bus for land transportation of the buses to meet the HCM’s desired schedule.
All related risks and implications of the above actions were also explained. The BoD refrained from approving both items and instead directed the CEO to personally meet with the HCM to explain the risks of expediting the bus delivery schedule.
On April 19 I met with the HCM along with our bus consultant and the bus supplier. The bus testing process and schedule was explained to the HCM in detail. A big binder was presented with more than 80 pages listing the testing and compliances. The HCM was also shown the daily schedule of the tests. He was explained that the prototype unit will be available for testing from April 22 to 28 and during this time tests will be conducted for up to 18 hours every day.
The consultant also mentioned that after the testing is completed by April 28th, they will need a week to complete their report and then if everything goes well and the prototype is accepted only then the mass production could start. With this schedule the delivery of the first batch of buses in May would be highly unlikely. At this point the HCM became very agitated and told us to leave. Later that day at the cabinet meeting he passed the resolution for my removal. It was a classic case of shooting the messenger as I was only conveying the directions of the BoD.
In the end I would again state that my removal from the post of CEO TransPeshawar was unfair and unjustified and not in the best interest of the company. It is quite certain that the Peshawar BRT will be facing a lot of difficulties due to some of the government’s decisions and interference with the technical and operational aspects and due to these reasons I approached the Chairman of the BoD several times to allow me to resign from this post but he was always very supportive and every time he convinced me to stay on in the interest of the company and the citizens of Peshawar.
Nevertheless, I hope and wish that TransPeshawar will be able to overcome the difficulties and provide a good service to the citizens of Peshawar.