From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Thursday ordered accountability watchdog’s Karachi bureau to launch an inquiry against K-Electric.
An inquiry should be launched for not elevating the electricity infrastructure in the city on modern lines, the NAB chairman said as he directed the Karachi bureau to acquire a copy of the K-Electric agreement with the government and ascertain if it was implemented or not.
He also directed them to acquire investment details of the K-Electric. “We believe in performing our duties within the ambit of law,” Justice retd Javed Iqbal said and added that the NAB would not allow K-Electric to mint billions of rupees from the citizens in the name of overcharging. We will further not allow K-Electric to carry out unannounced load shedding and avoid implementation on its agreement with the government, he said, and directed the NAB officials to complete an inquiry against the power utility within three months. It is pertinent to mention here that taking notice of prolonged load-shedding in Karachi, Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned K-Electric’s higher officials on 17th of July.
Addressing a presser to address the increasing criticism on the power utility on Wednesday, the K-Electric CEO Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi said that he was ashamed over load shedding in the city and announced to update the masses after every two weeks on the situation. The top K-Electric official said that it was an embarrassing situation for them in the current scenario and blamed that the current shortfall was due to the hindrances created in the installation of a 700-megawatt power plant in 2016. The CEO, however, announced that they would ensure an additional supply of 2100 megawatt to the city by the next three years.
Meanwhile, The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday in Sialkot’s Kent View Housing Society scandal, media reported on Thursday. The anti-graft watchdog has asked the PML-N stalwart to appear before the NAB office tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am along with the relevant documents. The anti-corruption watchdog has summoned Khuwaja Asif after he failed to satisfy the joint investigation team when being questioned about the housing scheme scandal in the last appearance on July 3.
Sources told media that Khawaja Asif gave incomplete answers of the NAB’s questionnaire, whereas, he failed to satisfy the joint investigation team despite being appeared before them today. The PML-N leader replied that he has provided a complete record to the anti-corruption watchdog and sold the land after complete verification of its documents. Later, the anti-graft watchdog provided another questionnaire to Khawaja Asif which sought more details of his income sources besides asking him to appear before the investigators again on July 17 at 11:00 am along with the required documents.
