The government has a serious financial scandal on its hands involving purchase of tents for the earthquake victims. PPPP Senator Dr Abdullah Riar first raised the issue in the Upper House on Wednesday, accusing a member of the Federal cabinet, Textile Minister Mushtaq Cheema, himself an owner of a textile mill, of compromising on the weather and water proof specifications of tents worth Rs 1.8 billion.
While defending the deal during question hour on Thursday, the minister did admit to a number of irregularities, including that instead of the usual canvass the tents were made of drill cloth, and the price given to the manufactures was Rs 6,500 apiece, which was double the prevailing market rate, and further that the usual practice of calling tenders for procurement purposes was not adopted. His explanation for all these compromises was simply that it was done due to time constraints to meet an emergency situation.
This, to say the least, is a flimsy and unacceptable explanation. The tents are needed to provide protection to people against the harsh winter conditions, including rain and snow. In fact, in the appeals that the government had been making initially to outside governments and humanitarian agencies, it had repeatedly been asking for weatherproof tents.
Which raises the obvious question why did it then knowingly compromise on the quality of the product it procured from its own resources? It cannot hide behind the excuse that this was all it could do while relying on the local resources.
As it is, Pakistan is the world's single largest manufacturer and exporter of canvass tents, meeting 70 percent of the world's requirements. Surely, with the extra incentive of double price on offer the local manufacturers would have doubled their efforts to make the tents in time.
The tendering process could also have been expedited, cutting out some of the formalities, if those incharge had felt the need to award the manufacturing contracts in a fair and transparent manner. Every aspect of the affair stinks badly. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the drill cloth, normally used for men's garments, cannot withstand the rainy and snowy weather of the Himalayan region.
The question now is that what is the government going to do when the drill tents start leaking as the very first winter rains start falling on them? Are the quake victims to be left alone at the mercy of the elements or another two billion rupees are to be drained out of the relief fund to manufacture some more substandard coverings for the unfortunate people who have been forced to take refuge in makeshift arrangements?
The irregularities, intentional or unintentional, are appalling. Unfortunately, the treasury benches did not respond well to the concern raised by the Opposition members, treating the matter as the usual government versus Opposition politics whereas it is likely to become a life and death issue for the millions rendered homeless by the catastrophic earthquake. The ruling party resisted the fair demand made by the Senate Opposition Leader, Raza Rabbani, that the Finance Committee of the Senate investigate the matter.
It was only after the leader of the House Senator Wasim Sajjad sensed the situation might get out of control that he offered government support in referring the issue to the Finance Committee, but only on the condition that the Opposition withdrew its allegation and apologise to the minister. The other side agreed to withdraw the allegation if that could lead to a referral to the Finance Committee but, predictably, refused to apologize and decided to stage a walkout.
The walkout may have saved the situation for the government for the day, but the issue is too serious to go away anytime soon. It is in the interest of the government itself, therefore, to show to the international donors as well as its own people that its dealings are transparent and all the money that is already there, or is expected to come, will be spent on the purposes for which it is meant.
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