The city district government’s third attempt to contract out the Shahpur Kanjran cattle market has also failed, The Express Tribune has learnt.
On Thursday, an auction was held to contract out the entry and loading fees at the animal market. It ended when the bidders refused to bid and gave their charter of demand to the government. Two auctions were previously held on April 30 and May 14 and had met the same fate.
The bidders on Thursday demanded the government to ensure that illegal slaughtering of animals was stopped as sacrificial animals were bypassing the market when being transported to the city.
They also demanded that no points for purchasing sacrificial animals be allowed until a notification by the provincial government was issued prior to Eidul Azha. They said the registration of FIRs [for overcharging] against them should also be stopped.
The contract for this year is to be awarded before June 30. The bidder who wins the auction would hold the rights to collect fees of the animals that make their way into the market. The party would collect Rs30 for each goat and Rs135 for larger animals. The contractor would also collect the vehicles carrying the cattle – Rs100 for a pick up, Rs300 for a four-wheel-truck and Rs600 for a six-wheel-truck.
Haji Muhammad Ismail, who had the contract in 2012-2013, said potential contractors, accused the ‘Raiwind administration’ of demanding a heavy bribe.
The city district government officials, however, denied this allegation and said that the contractors were reluctant to take part in the auction because a caretaker set up was in place.
He said the city district government wanted to run the market on its own and was not in favour of awarding contracts to any party.
“The city district government was in control of the market for over 11 months in 2007-2008 and had only managed to generate Rs50 million in revenues. When contractors were in charge, the revenue exceeded Rs150 million,” he said.
Ismail said the potential contractors wanted assurances before they participated in the auction. He said he was against registration of FIRs against the contractors.
“On Wednesday four FIRs were registered against me for over charging,” he said.
Ismail accused Raiwind AC Munawar Bukhari of demanding a Rs20 million bribe from him. He said when he refused to give the bribe, FIRs were registered against him.
When contacted by The Express Tribune, Bukhari said Ismail was only accusing him because he had registered the cases against him. He said he had proof that Ismail had been overcharging.
Bukhari said that none of the potential bidders had submitted a call deposit which was mandatory to take part in the auction. “Why are the auctions being held if we did not want the contract to be awarded,” he said.
“Another auction will be held soon,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2013.