As the Sindh government officials were preparing their briefing and presentation to President Asif Ali Zardari’s on Thursday, the Aiwan-e-Sadr authorities informed the Sindh authorities about the head of state’s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia at the eleventh hour, irking the province’s bureaucracy. Nobody from the Aiwan-e-Sadr bothered to officially inform provincial authorities about the postponement of the scheduled meetings on time, reliable sources told Pakistan Today.
The President’s Secretariat (Public) had forwarded a letter to Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Mohammad Abbas, the Planning and Development Division, Islamabad secretary, WAPDA Chairman Shakil Durrani and Alternate Energy Development Board Chief Executive Officer Arif Allauddin telling them to brief the president about the development of various sectors in Sindh.
After the Presidency’s letter, the chief secretary forwarded another letter to various departments of the provincial government including irrigation, alternate energy development board, board revenue, investment board, Thar Coal Development Board, health, education, food and planning and development department; directing them to furnish details of their progress within three to four days so that the president could be given a briefing.
The Sindh government officials spent time preparing the progress briefing report, affecting the routine business of the Sindh Secretariat. The President’s Secretariat (Public) on July 13, in a letter No 10(150)/(i)Dir (HD)/2011, sent a fax to the Sindh chief secretary, calling for meetings on July 21, 2011 at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in the federal capital.
However the president left for a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on July 20, but the authorities at the President’s Secretariat informed the Sindh government about the development in the afternoon after the president had left the country.
