National Highway Authority (NHA) came under severe criticism from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as Auditor General Office has detected an embezzlement of Rs 2.26 billion at different stages in the execution of various projects during 2005-06.
The committee, which met here on Tuesday with Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the chair, took serious notice of unauthorised import of vehicles by NHA despite the fact that government had imposed a ban on the import of such vehicles. Chairman PAC and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar directed the communication ministry to fix the responsibility and PAC would not hesitate to hold the military men accountable if it was proved they were guilty.
"I will personally talk to Chief of Army Staff for bringing them (former military officials) to justice. These men are not angels. The government will not be hesitating to take action against them," he added. He said that a technical committee would be established that would assist the PAC in identifying lacunas specifically in technical matters.
It was observed in the audit report that NHA headquarters imported four vehicles from Japan in 2004 despite the issuance of clear instructions that no ministry and department would import 4 by 4 vehicles. The Ministry of Finance had issued these instructions in 2000.
The committee took serious notice when NHA chairman Farrukh Javed tried to defend the import by reading out a letter of the Prime Minister in which it was stated that ministries and departments were allowed to import vehicles as a replacement for condemned vehicles. Member PAC and former minister Zahid Hamid observed that NHA imported the vehicles in 2004, while the letter being referred to by the NHA chairman was issued in 2005.
Chaudhry Nisar directed the ministry to fix the responsibility within 15 days and take actions against the responsible officials within a week after fixing the responsibility. "It is the money of the people, which runs the NHA. The authority exercises its powers when it takes decisions like the import of vehicles, but when it comes to money it always depend upon the government," he observed.
PAC member Riaz Pirzada observed that there was embezzlement of billions of rupees in tax collection by the NHA through toll taxes. Chaudhry Nisar said there was a need of strengthening the Departmental Accounts Committees (DACs) so that most of the issues could be resolved at the early stage.
"The number of audit paras could be drastically slashed if the ministries and department followed the rules and regulations in real spirit," said Nisar as officials from NHA and audit officials exchanged some accusations during the committee deliberations. Auditor General Tanveer Ali Agha proposed to the committee that there was need that ministries and departments were required to inform the AG Office in advance whenever any malpractice is detected.
"Unfortunately, the departments are not informing us upfront. This practice, if followed by the ministries and departments, could help the PAC and the AG office to settle the issues within a short time. In this way there would not be any backlog," said the AG. Chaudhry Nisar asked the AG office to look into the construction of rest house being built by the NHA in Naran where the natural beauty is being destroyed for the sake of providing residence for the officials.
The PAC also observed that NHA illegally constructed its regional office for NHA in Karachi. While constructing Karachi Northern Bypass, the project director awarded the construction of regional office amounting to Rs 28.2 million without tendering process at 11.27 percent above the engineer's estimate.
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