The Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are to face further inquiry in the days to come as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started a probe in the light of " one sided" Inquiry Report prepared by a nine-member committee.
This has been revealed during the Federal Cabinet meeting held on April 21, 2020 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan when the issue of IPPs inquiry report came under discussion.
The inquiry to be launched by NAB would be in addition to an inquiry to be conducted by the Inquiry Commission, the name and Terms of References (TORs) of which are yet to be finalised. It is unclear if power sector projects established by CPEC will also be part of NAB inquiry or not.
However, some sane elements within the government are also worried that with multiple inquires of one sector which spent billions of dollars as development partners, a wrong message may be sent to prospective investors in the country.
Another headache for some senior members of the Cabinet and also CPEC authority headed by Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa( retired ) is that if power projects established under China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), are investigated, it would create major issues with respect to bilateral ties between Pakistan and China.
The sources said, prior to discussion, Prime Minister Advisor on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood who is advocating investment in Pakistan and is against role of NAB in private matters and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, recused themselves from the meeting to aviod any conflict of interest.
According to sources, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives/ Chairman Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) , Asad Umar appreciated the hard work, efficiency and diligence of Additional Secretary, Cabinet Division for drafting minutes of the CCoE meeting, approving and placement of summary at such a short notice before the Cabinet. He pointed out that slight modification in CCoE's decision in respect to case titled ' report on IPPs by Mr. Muhammad Ali," submitted by the Power Division in the meeting held on April 20, 2020 was required to mandate the proposed Inquiry Commission to carryout forensic audit and investigation, and also to complete its proceeding and report within 90 days.
The inquiry report has claimed that the IPPs made profits of thousands of billions in violation of their agreements, which, however, has been denied by the companies. President Dr. Arif Alvi is of the view that if the findings of inquiry report are correct, the country has not been "raped" but "gang-raped" by the Mafia. However, he said that the report is one-sided as the viewpoint of IPPs was not heard.
Endorsing the proposals of CCoE, the Cabinet members agreed that the report on IPPs should immediately be made public in the interest of good governance, transparency and accountability.
The members were also of the view that a definite and non-extendable timeframe of 90 days be given to the Inquiry Commission to submit report.
They maintained that Terms of Reference (ToRs) should be carefully drafted and sufficient budgetary and human resources be placed at the disposal of the Commission. It was also revealed that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also taken cognizance of the report on IPPs.
Minister for Power, Omar Ayub, while drawing attention to ongoing commercial negotiations with IPPs, stated that these would need to be suspended till the report of the Inquiry Commission is finalised and presented to the government.
However, a need was also stressed that in the attempt to investigate the sector care should be exercised not to discourage genuine investors and at the same time projects of national importance such as CPEC should not suffer unduly.
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