Ministry asks GSP to explain purchase

ISLAMABAD: The department of Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) has been asked to explain unauthorised expenditure of Rs2.5 million on the purchase of a four-wheel drive Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, which overlooks the department, has sought an explanation of the expense in a letter. Official sources said that a copy of the letter had also been forwarded to former Director General (DG) GSP, Mirza Talib Hussain.

The Cabinet Division had banned the purchase of new vehicles in a letter sent to the department on February 28, 2006, according to official sources.

A few months later on August 16, 2006, the department signed a contract of Rs6 million with Wapda for provision of consultancy services for a study of Hattian Bala and other landslide affected areas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. While the agreement did not have any provision for the purchase of a vehicle, former DG Hussain approved a Kia Sportage SUV for a total cost of Rs2.5 million in 2007.

The department’s incumbent DG Dr Imran Ahmed, in an interview with The Express Tribune, confirmed that the Public Account Committee (PAC) had summoned Hussain for an explanation. “My predecessor Mirza Talib Hussain ordered the purchase of the vehicle, which cost the department two and half million rupees,” DG Ahmed said. He added that the vehicle was then retired within two years of its purchase.

A 2009-10 audit report acquired by The Express Tribune revealed that the Rs2.5 million bid by Hyundai Twin City Motors Islamabad was not the lowest. The lowest bid, Rs1.74 million, was that of Trans Technology Pakistan in Islamabad.

Furthermore, the department, under former DG Hussain, purchased three vehicles for Rs2.82 million in 2005 from Adam Motor Company Ltd. The vehicles incurred another Rs3.44 million in repair and maintenance costs before they were retired, DG Ahmed said. “All of these vehicles had very low mileage at the time of their retirement,” he added.

Dr Rehanul Haq, Incharge Geo-Science Laboratories Islamabad, when asked about the whereabouts of the vehicles after their retirement, was unaware of the matter.

Former DG Hussain said that the final bid of Rs2.5 million was selected keeping in view the quality of machinery being procured. He added that there “was an intense need for the purchase of the vehicle and the decision was taken with the consensus [of other officials]”.

Moreover, the vehicles were retired early because of “heavy load on them” in Hattian Bala and other landslide areas in 2008-09, he explained.

Kia Sportage is a compact crossover SUV, a class of vehicles that are unsuitable for off-road use due to their unibody construction (similar to saloon cars) as opposed body-on-frame construction used in 4x4 jeeps.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2010.