Communication minister Muhammad Shamim Siddiqui failed to satisfactorily answer many of the opposition's questions related to his ministry in the National Assembly on Monday. Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain also took note of the situation.
On a question by MNA Qamar Zaman that two National Highway Authority (NHA) officers in grade 19 and 20, who were removed from the organisation on charges of malpractice's, were inducted in the ministry as technical advisers, the minister tried to skip the question, saying cases have been instituted against them and the matter would be decided after completion of the inquiry.
On another question over under-utilisation of funds, the minister said the department is fully utilising its funds and working on many development projects, adding additional funds were being sought by the NHA for the completion of these projects.
The house showed their astonishment when the minister was unable to explain the term 'enemy property'. The opposition raised many supplementary questions but the minister seemed to be in no position to give proper definition of the enemy property. The speaker, taking note of his reply, said the definition given by him is of evacuee property and not of enemy property.
To a question from Hakim Qari Gul Rehman on the mortgage of Motorways and other national highways to obtain loan, the minister said there was no such plan; rather the NHA is scrutinising part of future toll revenue receipts to raise a loan facility.
MNA Nawab Yusuf Talpur in a supplementary question inquired about the newly constructed roads by the NHA, which gave way just after two months, particularly the Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway, the minister admitted some portions of the road are damaged and said departmental inquiry is being held to find persons involved. The speaker checked the minister that he cannot state any question irrelevant, if it is floated by the speaker. Earlier, the communications minister termed a supplementary question from an MNA irrelevant before replying it.
The minister proposed to the speaker for making committees and sub-committees to resolve some complicated issues. The speaker asked the minister he should give the reply in detail and justify his reply instead of forming committees.
This situation arose on the question from Ali Akbar Mazhar Wains on the allotment of plots for petrol pumps, restaurants on main highways by the NHA. The speaker interrupted and caught the minister immediately and expressed his surprise over allotment of 110-canal land for a filling station.
Earlier, MNA Liaquat Baloch had expressed that standard of the National Highway Authority working is continuously deteriorating. His remarks were equally supported by MNA Ejaz Chaudhry of the treasury bench, who suggested consultants and contractors should be liable to fines and punishments on their faults, rather then simply transferring them to other company.
The speaker was much displeased on majority of the replies, which were based on annexures in the National Assembly library and asked how could the house know the details. He directed the minister to provide complete information to the house to satisfy the MNAs.
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