Mega projects of strategic importance: vested interests behind dumping of PMIC reports

Vested interests played an active role in issuance of order, barring the Prime Minister's Inspection Commission (PMIC) from monitoring the progress regarding mega projects of strategic importance and all the reports/recommendations of PMIC in this regard were dumped, informed sources in PMIC told Business Recorder on Wednesday.
The PMIC has unearthed heavy financial and managerial irregularities in mega projects included the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) apart from pointing out large-scale wrongdoings in government and semi-government organisations, they added.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of National Assembly in its meeting of June 10, 2010 proposed the government to allow the PMIC to play more proactive role in providing relief to general public, ensuring transparency in utilisation of funds earmarked for development projects, stated a report compiled by PMIC and presented to Prime Minister.
The PAC also emphasised on expanding the scope of the PMIC by further empowering the Commission to oversee execution of uplift programmes meant for masses weal, the report added.
The PMIC sources said that in spite of supporting the PMIC its work was being restricted, but things took a sudden turn when the Chairman PMIC raised the matter with Prime Minister Gilani and briefed him on the developments, who (premier) again allowed the PMIC to continue with its function of monitoring of the projects execution, they added.
The hidden hand was again used and the PMIC inspection role was restricted to projects costing above Rs100 million and being funded under Khushhal Pakistan Programme and Peoples Work Programme, they added.
They said that the PMIC chief had urged the Premier to allow, the Commission to take in hand the inspection of projects of public interest like poor quality of essential commodities sold at the Utility Stores, wrong electricity and gas billing, mushroom growth of CNG stations, mal-functioning of agricultural price commission etc.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in August 2009 assigned the PMIC to inspect, monitor and oversee the progress on pace and quality of projects under PSDP and after consultation with the Commission took top ten strategic projects for oversight. When the commission completed its work and suggested remedies, the commission was stopped from doing the needful, the PMIC report said.
The Commission under leadership of Malik Amjad Ali Noon took top ten mega projects of strategic importance and was looking to take 15 other projects for monitoring, the report reads.
The top ten projects the Commission took for inspection and monitoring including multi-billion Mangla Upraising Project, Diamer Bhasha Dam Construction Project, Mehran Coastal Highway, N-5 National Highway Rehabilitation Improvement, Lowari Tunnel and Access Road, Rehabilitation and Revamping of Irrigation and Drainage System in Sindh, PM's Programme for Hepatitis Prevention, PM's Special Initiative for Housing for poor, PM's Special Initiative for Livestock and Railways Track Rehabilitation, the PMIC report added.
After receiving the orders from Prime Minister in August 2009, the Chairman PMIC constituted a team to inspect and evaluate these projects to submit a comprehensive report to the premier, said the report, adding the PMIC received all documents related to these projects, carried out evaluation and physical inspection of these projects.
The Commission submitted reports to the Prime Minister for action, but all these reports were dumped and in spite of supporting the PMIC it was barred from working, sources said.
The Commission after starting monitoring found that all these projects are ill conceived and huge management problems were found in these projects, which are costing billions of rupees to national exchequer, the report reads.
The PMIC is working under the legal cover of martial law ordinance 58 of October 31, 1978 and it is under cover of the article 270- a, of the Constitution, entered under 8th Amendment of Zia regime in 1985. It was first introduced by General Ayub Khan and with different names it remained active till today.
The chairman of the PMIC is empowered to sent any person in jail for 8 months and can raid any office at any time and sought explanation from any secretary of the government, but it is a toothless body, as it could not take suo-motu action.
PMIC is eyes and ears of the Prime Minister and its mandate is to hold inspections and inquiries of corruption, mal-administration and mal-practices of ministries and government departments anywhere in the country, for which it can obtain support from provinces as well.