PAC seeks details of SC dam fund

Orders forensic audit of dams, power projects

ISLAMABAD:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered forensic audit of Bhasha and Mohmand dams as well as Dasu, Neelum-Jhelum and K4 Karachi projects.
Committee Chairman Noor Alam Khan made a written request to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial for sharing details of the Supreme Court dam fund created by his predecessor Saqib Nisar.

“The money collected in the dam fund is public money and it is inevitable for the supremacy of the apex court and ensuring transparency to make the details public for information," said the chairman, requesting the chief to ask the principal accounting officer of the Supreme Court to provide details of the fund collected.
He said denying the fund record by the principal accountant officer of Pakistan for audit was against the Constitution.

"This is public money and accountability for this money is a must, and if those accounts' information is not shared with the public by the principal accountant officer, it would be a clear violation of the Constitution," he said.

"The judiciary ensures the supremacy of law and Constitution," said PAC chairman, requesting the chief justice to take action against those who were denying to provide the record.

The committee also directed the secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and the WAPDA chairman to immediately remove 114 people rehired after their retirement in different projects of different dams.

"To oblige blue-eyed, officers are rehired on lucrative salaries after their retirement," said the chairman, adding that these people were receiving pensions along with salaries.

The meeting of the premier committee of parliament was held under the chairmanship of Noor Alam Khan, in which audit objections related to the Ministry of Water Resources for the year 2019-20 were reviewed.

During the meeting, the chairman instructed the committee staff to write letters to all the relevant ministries that any audit officer, who wants to ask for a bribe regarding verification, should inform the PAC and the federal secretaries. “We will take action, no one is above the law,” he remarked.

Khan said that some ministries and departments have contacted him to complain that audit officials ask for bribes at the stage of receipt or verification of documents.

In the meeting, the matter related to the giving of a fake bank guarantee by the contractor for the new Naj Gaj Dam project was also considered. The committee handed over the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for investigation.