The members of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Thursday jointly agreed to rename New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's name. The PAC met here with Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in the chair. The meeting reviewed and discussed grants approved for Airport Security Force (ASF) and Civil Aviation Authority as well as related matters including delay in completion of the NIIA. The auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) pointed out massive irregularities in accounts of CAA and ASF.
The meeting discussed the name of the New Islamabad International Airport, which was inaugurated in May 2018. There was agreement among the members that the new airport should also be called Benazir Bhutto International Airport in honour of the assassinated premier. The AGP has recently told the PAC that due to long delay the construction cost of airport project has overrun by over Rs 68 billion.
However, it was suggested that the mismanagement and irregularities that are being reported at the airport should be resolved before resolving its renaming issues.
At the conclusion of the meeting, PTI's Noor Alam Khan complained to the PAC chairman that the members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were given preference in giving their input during the meeting. The panel was informed that a grant worth Rs 21 million was approved for the Civil Aviation Division for the year 2011-12, during the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) tenure.
The auditors informed the meeting that the supplementary grant was never approved by the Parliament, despite the fact that it comes under the Finance Ministry's responsibilities to get the approval as per law.
They also shed light on five acres of land that belonged to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Karachi and were leased to a private party in 1992, resulting in financial damage worth over Rs 5 billion. The PML-N member of the National Assembly (MNA) Rana Tanveer Hussain suggested imposing a ban on grants while observing that expenditures preceded approvals, which is a blatant disregard of law.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Syed Fakhar Imam said that the extent of the Parliament's power regarding money bill and grants needs to be determined, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) leader Shahida Akthar Ali and PPP leader Sherry Rehman opined that grants can be sought according to needs.
Shahida Akhtar was tasked with the responsibility to head an inquiry committee to probe into the matter of five acres of CAA land in Karachi which was leased to a private party in 1992 and resulted in losses of over Rs 5 billion to the national kitty.
Following this, the PAC chairman ordered that audit complaints of Rs 50 million or more would be reviewed and discussed by the main PAC, while those below the said amount would be forwarded to a supplementary audit committee. Shehbaz said that the issue of the mini-budget is an important one that needs an efficient and effective solution.
On this, Finance Minister Asad Umar informed the meeting that the federal cabinet has been keeping a record of all matters related to mini-budget since October 15, 2018, according to the Supreme Court orders. He assured that the government is aware of issues in the system and would be paying special attention to solving them
After the PAC meeting when reporters asked Shehbaz about Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid's efforts to become a member of the PAC, he did not comment. "At the PAC when records of Islamabad Airport showed the original name of 'New Benazir Bhutto International Airport' all members endorsed our advice to revert to the right name of airport. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is our country's pride," Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted after the meeting.
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