–Senator Rehman Malik says MoU signed with US Embassy stands null
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Interior on Tuesday directed the Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP) to start an inquiry over the construction of firing range for US Embassy for which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Interior Ministry unlawfully.
The meeting was chaired by Senator Rehman Malik in the presence of other senators and senior officials of the Interior Ministry.
The chairman of the committee said that the ministry is not the authoritative body to sign an MoU in this case as the consent of the Cabinet Division is required in such matters. The committee, therefore, ordered the IGP to probe the matter and to find out the ulterior motives behind the agreement. The committee also directed the secretary interior to submit a detailed report on the findings in order to expose the ‘original facts’ before the committee.
Malik said that he had also directed the Interior Ministry and Islamabad chief commissioner to investigate the matter and to submit a detailed report regarding the matter.
“CDA has provided a report regarding allotment of land to the US Embassy and a letter was also written to the Interior Ministry to report on the matter but no such report has been received,” he said.
Senator General (r) Abdul Qayyum told the committee that he had taken up the matter in the House in the name of designing and construction of a firing range in Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad. He said that an advertisement floated on the website of the US Embassy for the renovation of a firing range for $0.1 million and the firms were asked to submit their bids.
Malik also said that he had taken up the matter with secretary interior and was informed that the police firing range was located outside the boundary of Diplomatic Enclave established for the training of personnel and the idea was to upgrade it. He said that he was informed that the Interior Ministry signed with MoU by mistake.
He clarified that the MoU was null and there was no firing range being built in the US Embassy as per reports of US Embassy and CDA.
