No utility: 39 Utility Stores shut down by USC

Supplies suspended following a report suggesting embezzlement.

PESHAWAR:

Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has shut down 39 stores in Malakand Division and suspended supplies to other areas after the reported embezzlement of Rs13.6 million in the region.

A USC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Rs13.6 was owed by regional franchises in Swat and Dir since 2009. However, the amount has not been paid since the military operation in the division, he added.

USC Dir Regional Manager Farid Khan said the amount was outstanding against the owners of franchises, adding that the authorities have asked these owners to deposit the amount as soon as possible. “We have stopped supplies till the franchise owners deposit their dues,” he remarked. He also said that USC cannot supply any item without advance payment.

Shafiullah Khan, a franchise owner in Dir, told The Express Tribune that his franchise did not owe anything to USC.  “We don’t know why they have suspended supply as we don’t owe a single paisa to USC,” he explained, adding that the authorities should take action against those officials who stopped supply to their stores.  He rejected Farid’s claim of outstanding dues against his franchise, and said that such allegations had no basis at all. “If USC cannot supply merchandise without prior payment, how can we have any liabilities against them?” he asked.

USC General Manager Masood Alam Niazi said he had ordered an inquiry into the matter. “We have traced some of the embezzled amount in Bahrain in Swat and Timergara in Dir, and hope to trace the remaining amount soon,” he added.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.