Wasteful malfeasance

The construction of the new international airport in Islamabad apparently cost Rs68 billion more than its original estimate or nearly twice as much as it was initially supposed to cost. This was revealed at a meeting of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee wherein the auditor general gave a breakdown of the costs incurred on the project and the irregularities which surfaced in its audit. The auditors told lawmakers that the project was initially estimated to cost Rs37 billion in 2008. But the project remained mothballed for the following five years to be revived in 2014 when a revised estimate put the cost at Rs81 billion. It was revised again in March 2018, just weeks before its inauguration, to a whopping Rs105 billion.

But six months after the inauguration of the project, 99 per cent of work on the airport stands completed with Rs85.55 billion spent. The auditor general told the PAC that based on their audit reports, four cases were sent to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for probe. Moreover, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has conducted a comprehensive inquiry into the matter and had prepared a list with the names of everyone involved in the irregularities in the construction of the airport. The PAC formed a six-member subcommittee to further probe the matter and fix responsibility for the loss to the national exchequer.

That irregularities were found in the largest, arguably the most modern and a most expensive airport built in the country, is little surprise given the number of issues which have been reported about the airport in the months since it was opened — from its roof leaking to flooding in some departments during rains and carousels which were out of order. What is more concerning is that all this happened in the federal capital, arguably under the nose of the federal government as well as also parliament and its oversight committees. Once the FIA report is made public, one can hope those responsible are held to account.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2019.

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