Agri minister rejects corruption allegations

Asks how dept could embezzle Rs600m when it has not received funds

KARACHI: Sindh Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahoo rejected all allegations of corruption against the Sindh agriculture department on Saturday and challenged the opposition parties to provide proof of any misappropriation of funds.

Claiming that the accusations of embezzling funds against the agriculture department were baseless, he maintained that the opposition's statement about the department receiving Rs1 billion to counter the locust threat in the province was also false.

"How would Rs600 million be embezzled by the agriculture department when it did not even receive the amount?" asked Rahoo, adding that the department had received Rs330 million in 2019, out of which eight single cabin cars were purchased for Rs27.6 million and another 11 single cabin cars were purchased for Rs53.4 million.

Rahoo further shared that 1,000 hand-held sprayers were bought for Rs4.32 million and 300 solo sprayers for Rs8.8 million, while Rs64.4 million were invested to procure 125,000 litres of pesticides. Moreover, other expenses included travelling and other allowances of over Rs8.9 million for the teams, other paid services of Rs1.7 million, printing for Rs1.03 million, and at least Rs14.9 million for vehicle rent, along with Rs11.8 million for fuel and maintenance.

He further informed that a total of Rs196 million was spent by the department on controlling locust swarms in 2019 while Rs120 million was saved and would be used this year.

"A total of 57 agriculture department teams have been working throughout the year, while the federal government has provided only eight teams," he claimed.

According to Rahoo, the vehicles, sprayers and pesticides recently purchased by the Sindh government were a part of the National Action Plan was approved by the federal government, which included the provision of resources to the provinces.

The provincial government was playing its part, but the Centre had provided an old aircraft, instead of the six new ones it had promised, he asserted. He further claimed that the federal government had provided only six vehicles for desert field operations instead of 110, and asked the Centre to provide the necessary vehicles to the National Disaster Management Authority, warning that the infestation would spiral out of control without timely intervention.

The minister added that the Sindh government had procured 21 double-cabin vehicles, to be used for surveys, surveillance and spray drives, for Rs286 million.

"The Sindh government is making every possible effort to control the locust swarms and it is shouldering the complete burden. The federal government is not doing much in this regard," he maintained. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2020.