Opposition leader demands performance report of ACE

Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Haleem Adil Sheikh has written a letter to the Anti-Corruption Establishment chairman to provide a record of the four-year performance of the latter's department.

In his letter, Sheikh said that a fresh budget is to be introduced and every year, the ACE has a huge allocation. He was curious to learn of the amount that had been recovered in corruption cases. "How many FIRs have been registered and how many people have been convicted through courts in corruption cases?" he asked in the letter.

Haleem claimed it was an open secret that corruption was rampant in every department of the province. "The concept of merit and competition has been strangled; whether it is in terms of awarding public contracts, competitive examination, recruitment or transfer and posting. Nothing is possible without greasing palms." He recalled ta time when merit, competition and transparency were the hallmarks of the province. "However, presently officials have been reduced to corruption, corruption and more corruption." The opposition leader alleged that instead of curbing corruption, the plague of bribery was at its peak in the Anti-Corruption Establishment.

He added that the Sindh government's departments, such as revenue, health, education, local government, works & services, police, agriculture, irrigation, excise & eaxation, along with others, were paying hefty bribes to nominated officers of the Anti-Corruption Department. He levelled these allegations on the basis of, what he claimed, were public complaints.

"The general public are aggravated by the scarcity of medicines in the public sector hospitals. However, pharma companies seem to be recording colossal growths. Every year, tenders worth billions of rupees are being awarded. However, on the ground, there is no road and there is no infrastructure. It's a matter of shame that bodies are being transported through donkey and bull carts."

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2022.