A sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed the Aviation Division to hold an inquiry into the purchase of unnecessary equipment for the national flag carrier worth Rs 108 million. The committee meeting was held under the convenership of Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang to examine the accounts of Aviation Division and Ministry of Industries & Production for fiscal year 2007-08.
Secretary Aviation Division informed the committee that the financial health of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is gradually improving. Legacy loans of PIA stand at Rs 187 billion. PIA management is making repayment of these loans amounting to Rs 3.29 billion per month. PIA fleet has 35 aircraft and around 19,000 employees, of which 500 employees are dedicated to one aircraft. The committee was informed that the authority had to face financial losses of Rs 359 million as the decision of the board of CAA had not been implemented.
Secretary CAA Muhammad Ali Gardezi informed the committee that the audit objection was based on a seven-year-old observation regarding CAA account but the responsible persons got retired and not available for inquiry. The committee was not satisfied with the answer of the federal secretary and directed him to conduct a proper probe and take action against those responsible.
The committee also expressed its utter displeasure upon a written off amount of Rs 131 million against various institutions and firms without following due procedures. It further referred the matter of wasteful expenditure of Rs 108 million on purchase of unnecessary parts of the airlines to NAB for further probe. The Secretary further said that PIA has registered seven workers' unions terming them as sub organisations. He recommended to ban these unions as they are creating problems in the working of the CAA.