Water treatment plants: PHC firm to recover lost funds

Directs NAB to relaunch probe, departments told to cooperate with anti-graft body

PESHAWAR: A high court bench, angry over the apex anti-corruption watchdog for failing to probe alleged graft in the construction of water treatment plants, has warned against the plunder of public funds.

The court further directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to complete its inquiry into the matter and submit a complete report to the court.

This was directed by a two-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), led by Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, as it heard a petition filed by advocate Ghulam Shoaib Jally.

Jally had contended that the K-P government had decided to build two sewage water treatment plants in Peshawar.

One of those plants was supposed to have been built in Hayatabad while the other was to be constructed on Charsadda Road.

The project was supposed to have been financially assisted by the Asian Development Bank and substantial amounts of funds were utilized for the purpose and some structures were erected. But the project was then left incomplete.

The authorities failed to make the plants functional, he argued. Jally demanded that the court hold the planners accountable for wasting public money.

On May 16, the PHC had directed NAB to probe alleged corruption in the project and submit a complete report to the high court.

When the court resumed hearing of the case, Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan asked NAB’s counsel about the findings of the inquiry directed by the court.

NAB’s lawyer, however, could not present anything before the court and explained that the anti-corruption watchdog had failed to start the inquiry owing to non-cooperation of the concerned departments.

“We have not been provided with any data by any department of the province,” the NAB lawyer told the court, adding that as a result, “no progress has been made to comply with the order of the court and probe the matter.”

This angered Justice Qaiser who slammed NAB for not taking the matter seriously and remarked that no one would be spared in the matter.

“The city is inundated with water due to clogged drains after just half an hour of rains,” remarked Justice Qaiser, adding, “The performance of the Water and Sanitation Services Company Peshawar is limited only to newspaper advertisements.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2018.