Funds given, equipment missing: Health dept’s money trail leads to Rs800m scam

Money was paid to contractors but equipment never made it to hospitals: officials .

KARACHI:

The Sindh government had sanctioned Rs800 million for the purchase of medical equipments for the public hospitals in the 2012-2013 budget but alarmingly, the money is still unaccounted for, learnt The Express Tribune on Tuesday. 

This scam was reportedly uncovered by the Sindh Local Government Minister Owais Muzaffar, who at the time of his surprise visits to the hospitals also held the portfolio of the health ministry.

“Rs840 million were allocated in the 2012-13 budget for purchasing machineries, including MRI machines, CT Scans and X-ray machines, for the hospitals in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and other areas, out of which Rs800 million are unaccounted for, “ said an official of the health department on the condition of anonymity. “The contractors have been paid in advance but they have yet to supply these equipments. We have started a departmental inquiry but are under ‘pressure’ not to refer the case to the National Accountability Bureau or the anti-corruption department.”



Sources in the department told The Express Tribune that Rs150 million were allocated to Sukkur Civil Hospital. “The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Zulfiqar Sial, released the amount to the contractor during the first quarter of this year. Not a single machine, however, has so far been supplied.”

While Health Secretary Inamullah Dharejo confirmed that the department had started an inquiry into the Sukkur Civil Hospital, he avoided sharing information about the role of other hospitals in this scam.

“The hospital’s management as well as the contractor were involved in the missing funds. They released the amount in April 2013 during the caretaker government. Even after receiving the amount, the company did not provide the machines,” Dharejo told The Express Tribune. “We have suspended the medical superintendent who, along with the contractor, has now deposited Rs143.3 million in government’s accounts.”

The then health secretary, Dr Suresh Kumar, who headed the tender committee, refused to comment.

Dr Sial defended releasing the amount to the contractor, saying, “The process of awarding the tenders for the equipments was made purely on merit. There were some administrative issues. The company was about to supply the machinery when suddenly the inquiry was started. Now the amount has been deposited back.” But Sial, who was suspended from his post as the medical superintendent, was not able to explain why the entire sum was paid in advance.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Dr Sagheer Ahmed, who was the health minister when the budget was allocated, clarified that it was the medical superintendants who were responsible for the procurement - not the health minister.

“My job was to allocate funds to different hospitals. The health minister cannot monitor each and every thing.” According to him, the funds were misappropriated after he resigned from the health department when MQM parted ways with government. “Most of the amount was released in April, 2013 and everyone knows who was in government at that time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2013.