Ministry unable to recover Rs9m from ‘ghost’ company

Firm violated a deal for providing inner linings of soldiers’ helmets.

ISLAMABAD:

The ministry of defence production has failed to find owners of a company which owes the government Rs9 million more than 20 years after it defaulted on a helmet supply deal, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was told on Wednesday.

Defence Production Secretary Israr Ghuman told members of the PAC’s sub-committee on defence that the company, named Albright, was given a contract in the 1980s to provide the inner lining for 1,300 steel helmets for soldiers.

He said that the helmets were for corps which had been raised in the 1980s for deployment on the country’s western borders. He said that the government had made alternative arrangements for the helmets after the company failed to provide the consignment on time.

But when the ministry sought to locate the company to get its money back, it found that the company had abandoned its offices. The authorities have been unable to locate its owners, he said.

Ghuman said that the ministry had contacted the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to ask if it had any information about the company’s owners, but the authority had not responded despite repeated requests.

Yasmeen Rehman, the chairman of the PAC sub-committee, directed the ministry of defence production to “submit a positive response” within a month. She said that the civilian and military bureaucracy should improve their coordination, adding that there was a lot of room for improvement in their working.

PAC member Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that procurement rules, made by the Public Procurement Rules Authority (PPRA), should be relaxed. Previously, the armed forces had been able to negotiate better contracts as they were less constrained, he said, adding that parliament should review the rules.

Sadiq said that the PAC had saved the government Rs60 billion by bridging the gap between public departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2011.