By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on State and Frontier Regions was held at Parliament Lodges under the Chairmanship of Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman.
The DG Pak PWD gave a detailed briefing to the committee on SDG development schemes in Mohmand and Bajaur Tribal Districts for the year 2021-22. Under these development schemes, an amount of Rs. 384 million has been spent on 11 projects.
The Chairman Committee expressed serious concerns over corruption in the schemes and concealment of information related to the schemes by Pak PWD. “I was told a few days ago that Rs 384 million would be credited back to government accounts. That has not happened yet. The money of the poor people will not be allowed to go to waste like this,” he said.
The DG PWD informed the committee that a departmental inquiry has been initiated and strict action would be taken if any irregularities were found. The chairman of the committee informed the committee members that no work has been done so far as per these schemes in Mohmand district and advance payment has been made to the contractors. In this regard, in the last meeting of the committee, NAB and FIA were asked to investigate the case.
PWD officials told the committee that NAB has seized all the records related to the projects to which the chairman of the committee replied that NAB and FIA are our national institutions and it is thier job to investigate such cases and it is the responsibility of the committee to identify such irregularities.
PWD XEN, in the presence of all the participants, assured the committee in writing that the amount paid from the exchequer under the schemes would be remitted to the exchequer within ten days. The committee members appreciated the efforts of Chairman Committee Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman in this regard.
The committee meeting was attended by Senators Hidayatullah, Haji Hidayatullah, Bahramand Khan Tangi, Shamim Afridi, Dost Muhammad Khan, Dinesh Kumar, DC Mohmand District, Director FIA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, concerned Ministry and PWD officials
