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Audit officials obtain record of Punjab-based govt departments
ISLAMABAD: Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has obtained a record of 56 Punjab-based companies who were reportedly found involved in worth over Rs 80 billion irregularities.
Sources said that the officials have completed the audit of half of the companies including the Faisalabad Waste Management Company, Cattle Market and the Faisalabad Parking Company. An official said that audit of various companies were in process.
The department will complete the audit in few days. Once the audit of these companies will complete, the audit reports will sent to all relevant forums. The AGP is conducting the audit of these companies on the instruction of the Lahore High Court.
Munir Ahmad, a petitioner, challenged the matter before the LHC that there is no report of financial and performance audit of these companies, not even with the Punjab finance minister? The heads of these companies were not appointed through advertisement, but on pick and choose basis while other staffers were also recruited in a similar fashion.
Majority of the waste management contracts of the said companies have been awarded to the Turkish firms, but the record of their contracts was missing. It said. Subsequently, the court issued notices to not only heads of 56 companies but the AGP and the SECP chairman in the alleged Rs 80 billion scam cases and has sought information in this regard.
Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked the government officials about the motive behind the formation of the companies despite presence of a municipal system. “How can a secretary become a company’s head and withdraw double salary,” he asked while posing another question about the procedure regarding the audit of these companies.
The companies included the Punjab Saaf Pani Company, Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company, Lahore Transport Company, Lahore Waste Management Company, Lahore Parking Company, Multan Cattle Market Management Company, Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Board, and waste management companies working in various cities across the province.
The Punjab government had constituted 56 companies under the Article-42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984 as the Punjab chief minister was inspired by the Turkish model and therefore summoned analysts from the same. Talking to Pakistan Today, the AGP spokesperson said that the record of all the companies has been obtained and there was no reality in rumours that some companies were reluctant to provide the record.
