Villages flooded after a breach in Jamrao canal near Preetamabad. PHOTO: DFID/ FILE
The Sindh High Court (SHC) gave on Friday a week's time to the provincial chief secretary to file a report on why Rs9 billion were awarded for the Jamrao canal rehabilitation project without inviting international tender.
SHC chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed the division bench, warned that the matter will be referred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the alleged violations.
On Friday, irrigation secretary Syed Zaheer Haider Shah and Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority managing director Babar Hussain Effendi had appeared in court. The bench asked the irrigation secretary why the advertisements for the tender were announced in the local newspapers instead of leading dailies, which was required to intimate international bidders to participate in the process. Neither Shah nor Effendi were able to provide an acceptable answer.
On the request of additional advocate-general Ghulam Mustafa Mahesar, the judges granted one week to the chief secretary to file the report.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2016.
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