Appointments in OGDC made at hefty packages

This comes at a time when company profits are coming under pressure

ISLAMABAD: Top management of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) has made appointments on higher slots at hefty packages, which may spark controversy in coming days.

According to officials, the hiring on top posts includes the chief financial officer and general manager security. They are said to be close relatives of the chairman board of directors and a member of the board.

Now, officials said, the OGDC management is under pressure of the board chairman to appoint a blue-eyed boy as the external communication manager, but he had no relevant experience, which was in violation of the criteria set in the advertisement.

The Pakistan Peoples Party has already come in for a lot of criticism for making questionable appointments during its tenure. Now, under the PML-N administration, similar hiring is being made at hefty packages at a time when profits of the company are going down because of a dip in oil prices.

An official pointed out that the former OGDC management had appointed an executive director at a package of Rs800,000 per month, which has gone up to Rs1.7 million in violation of the contract.

“The employee hired on contract had a set package, which could not be doubled,” the official remarked. He said the role of the board of directors was to assist the company in formulating policies but the current board was interfering in affairs of the management and the acting chief of the company was under immense pressure due to the interference.

“In such a situation, the company has not been able to make big discoveries of oil and gas,” he said.

Since coming to power in June 2013, the government has not been able to appoint permanent head of the company and it is being run through an ad hoc arrangement.

The OGDC board chairman was contacted for comments, but he did not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2016.

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