The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday declared “wrong” a decision taken by the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in 1999.
The cabinet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif cabinet approved 18 projects launched by the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) involving 4,564 apartments, considering them commercially viable and spending a sum of Rs 31.765 million on design, consultancy and other basic functions.
After observing an un-highlighted audit paragraph, the PAC directed the Housing Ministry to conduct an enquiry and fix the responsibility in one month.
The PAC also directed the auditor general of Pakistan to take special care while categorising the highlighted and un-highlighted audit paragraphs.
The PAC met in the capital with Nadeem Afzal Gondal in the chair to review audit observations about the financial accounts of the Ministry of Housing and Works and its attached departments during fiscal years 2004-05 and 2006-07.
The officials of the Auditor General’s Office told PAC that the financial statements along with receipts and outflow of funds had only been discussed once in last 60 years by the PAC during the 70s, and the then PAC chairman decided not to discuss them again.
The committee decided to hold internal meeting with the AGP on the issue of reviewing financial accounts and statements of Ministry of Finance after June 29.
Ministry of Housing and Works Secretary Kamran Lashari briefed the committee that government employees were given plots in Islamabad under Prime Minister’s programme as well as a special programme for government employees of grade-22.
The PAC sought a detailed list of those officers who received two plots in Islamabad along with a copy of the summary approved by former premier Shaukat Aziz, allowing officers to get two plots of land in Islamabad by June 25.
However, the members of the committee declared allotment of plots only to officers of higher grades as injustice towards the employees of lower grades.
Saeed Zafar, a member of the PAC, moved documents to the committee about non-implementation of directives of the prime minister on execution of projects involving amounts of more than Rs 100 million.
Lashari, while explaining the case before the committee, said that development funds of Rs 100 million lapsed due to a lie told by an XEN who said that the issue was sub judice.
The auditors apprised the committee that non-imposition of liquidated damages at a rate of 10 percent from contractor accumulated a loss of Rs 1.3 million. The secretary explained that 40 percent receivable amount had been recovered while remaining 60 percent would be recovered from the final bill of the contractor. The PAC directed to get the received amount verified in three days and report back to the committee.
The PAC also directed the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) to submit accounts to the AGP along with fixing responsibility for not submitting accounts in 14 days.
