Federal audit authorities have highlighted financial irregularities of around Rs 9.0 billion in the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority’s (ERRA) relief programme. The audit report 2010-11 of ERRA’s accounts revealed that the authority had disbursed around Rs 8.5 billion among 55,076 earthquake victims from 2006 to 2010 without obeying the set rules and procedures.
The report pointed out that ERRA had paid Rs 4.955 billion to 28,319 households from 2006 to December 2009 without approval from development authorities or technical inspection from concerned authorities. “When asked, ERRA was unable to produce any certificate from concerned authorities for payment to 28,319 households. In addition, recipients did not have any proof of compliance. Payment of Rs 4.955 billion was, thereby, held irregular and unjustified,” said the report.
Authorities said these payments violated what the ERRA Council’s meeting had decided. “The ERRA Council had decided in its ninth meeting that instalment of urban housing subsidy in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be paid after certificate from the concerned development authority was obtained,” audit authorities maintained.
The ERRA high-ups said the issue of requisite certificates would be taken up with the development authorities in AJK. “No certificates were thereafter produced for audit. It was therefore proposed that the irregular payment should be regularised,” the report added. Audit officials also objected ERRA’s payment of Rs 3.344 billion for the Rural Housing Reconstruction Programme in 2008-09 and 2009-10. As per the programme, 26,757 households were paid Rs 125,000 each.
However, these households never confirmed reconstruction and failed to comply with the required design specifications. “Rs 3.344 billion was irregularly paid, causing loss to the public exchequer,” said the report. Federal audit authorities further revealed that the record Rs 409 million for removal of debris in the urban area of Muzaffarabad was not produced for audit. The report further detected financial irregularities of Rs 370 million in the form of unjustified payments to NESPAK during the financial year 2007-08.
“During the scrutiny of records, it was observed that eight out of the 15 prime core activities were not conducted by NESPAK as no record in support of these activities were produced by the authority,” said the report.
