ISLAMABAD:
Members of the Senate Standing Committee on the Cabinet Secretariat on Friday raised concerns over ‘mismanagement, corruption, and the absence civic facilities’ at the new Islamabad airport, which is still being built.
The senators unanimously demanded action against the officials who got approvals from the previous government for the project without conducting the necessary planning and feasibility of the area, where even water supply was unavailable.
They also called for action against officials who awarded contracts worth millions of rupees to various blacklisted firms. The committee was informed that water is available in the area, but at a depth of 350 feet, and extracting water from that depth would be very costly.
Civil Aviation Secretary Mohammad Ali Gardezi informed the committee that the Punjab chief minister had given a verbal assurance to supply water to the new airport from Shahpur Dam, located near the airport site.
Gardezi said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also approved water supply from the dam, while adding that rainwater harvesting was also being utilised.
A representative of the Punjab Irrigation Department, however, said that the provincial government had not reserved any funds for construction of new reservoirs in the province this year. He said the federal government, which had already spent billions of rupees on the project, should approve Rs750 million for the construction of Rama Dam in Fateh Jhang to ensure uninterrupted water supply to the airport.
Rejecting the option, Gardezi said the federal government had already approved water supply from Shahpur Dam.
Senator Kalsoom Perveen said that although the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had conducted an inquiry into irregularities in the new airport project, it did not take action against any official. An FIA official responded that FIRs against officials of BS-18 and above could only be registered after approval from the Interior Ministry.
The committee decided to have a representative of the ministry appear in the next meeting to clarify the situation.
The Senate committee also had queries relating to new link roads to the airport. A National Highway Authority representative informed the committee that the prime minister had approved link roads connecting to the I-series of sectors.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2014.
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Islamabad new airport is classic example where politicians,bureaucrats and retired generals eating public money with hand in gloves.NO one can remove corruption when it is blood.