Food ministry to auction 15 aircraft acquired for pest control

Cabinet gives approval as aircraft engines, propellers have expired

ISLAMABAD: The government has allowed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research the auction of 15 aircraft acquired to control pest attack on different crops.

According to ministry officials, the aerial wing of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP), which comes under the Ministry of National Food Security, had a fleet of 20 vintage aircraft. However, past governments ignored these airplanes, of which 15 became dead as their engines had expired.

The DPP’s aerial wing had been set up in 1950 primarily as an emergency response agency to counter the threat of desert locust against vital crops. Apart from its primary function, the aerial wing was always on standby to cope with pest epidemic and responded to requests of provincial agricultural departments.

However, after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the subject of agriculture went to the provincial governments, therefore, the role of the aerial wing was reduced to just locust monitoring and control.

Officials said the cabinet in its recent meeting was informed that the DPP’s aerial wing had a fleet of 20 vintage aircraft which included five Beaver, eight Cessna and seven Fletcher planes parked at two bases in Karachi and Lahore.

Of these, they said, only the five Beavers were operational. The seven Fletcher and eight Cessna aircraft were beyond economical repair as their manufacturers said the life of the aircraft engines and propellers had expired.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also cancelled the registration of all these Fletcher and Cessna aircraft.

The cabinet was informed that the DPP had consulted Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the director general of defence purchase, seeking the procedure for the aircraft auction, but no response had been received so far. In light of the situation, the Ministry of National Food Security suggested that the entire fleet of 15 Cessna and Fletcher aircraft along with spare parts may be auctioned.

In the absence of standard operating procedures for the disposal of such aircraft, the ministry requested the cabinet to allow the sale of the airplanes through an auction.

In the cabinet meeting, its members noted that since there appeared to be a huge stock of dead capital with many ministries in the federal government, they should ensure their proper and quick disposal.

It was also pointed out that though the Privatisation Division was the relevant division for undertaking the disposal of dead capital, all ministries also had the standard official protocols which, if allowed, could be followed for the disposal of unserviceable goods.

The cabinet considered a summary submitted by the National Food Security and Research Division for disposal of the unserviceable DPP aircraft and accorded approval for their auction.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2019.

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