Mohmand, Bajaur districts: Senate body takes notice of irregularities in development schemes

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (Safron) on Tuesday took serious notice of the irregularities in the development schemes under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Mohmand and Bajaur districts.

The meeting, chaired by its chairman Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman, was given a detailed briefing by senior officials of the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) on SDG development schemes in Mohmand and Bajaur districts for the year 2021-22. Under these development schemes, an amount of Rs384 million has been spent on 11 projects.

The chairman committee expressed serious concerns over corruption and irregularities in the schemes and concealment of the information related to the schemes by Pak PWD.

The chair stated that he had previously told that Rs384 million would be credited back to government accounts which had not yet been made. “The money of the poor people will not be allowed to go to waste in such a way,” he remarked.

The chairman of the committee informed the committee members that no work had been done so far as per the schemes in Mohmand district and advance payment had been made to the contractors.

He said the committee in its previous meeting had requested the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the case.

Officials of the PWD informed the committee that a departmental inquiry had been initiated and strict action would be taken if any irregularities were found.

They further told the committee that the NAB had seized all the records related to the projects. In his response, the chairman of the committee stated that the NAB and the FIA were national institutions and it was their job to investigate such cases, adding the committee had the responsibility to identify such irregularities.

Officials of the PWD, in the presence of all the participants, assured the committee in writing that the amount paid from the exchequer under the schemes would be deposited back to the exchequer within 10 days.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022