Afsar Din Talpur is no more the acting chairman of Port Qasim Authority (PQA), as the federal government on Thursday ordered an inquiry against him removing him from PQA's helm. A three-member team led by Joint Secretary Ministry of Ports and Shipping Hasan Zaidi had arrived at PQA to probe into the alleged involvement of Talpur in corruption cases, including illegal allotment of lands, embezzlement etc, Business Recorder reliably learnt.
Talpur, however, refused to give any information about an inquiry against him saying that it was not the removal, but his position as acting PQA chief had "expectedly" been withdrawn. According to a notification issued by the ministry of ports and shipping Director General Ports and Shipping Vice Admiral (Retd) Asad Qureshi would take the charge of PQA chairman, while his vacant seat would be filled by Chairman Gwadar Implementation Authority Rear Admiral Muhammad Afzal(Retd) with immediate effect.
The previous notification declaring Talpur as acting PQA chief would, henceforth, stand annulled, it added. The sources said that the democratically elected civilian government in Islamabad had restored a retired naval officer at the PQA's helm and demoted Talpur, the first ever civilian chairman of the Authority, for his alleged involvement in corruption.
Thursday also marked a confusing controversy in PQA over the post of Director General Planning and Development (DG P&D) as no one in PQA can clearly say who entertains the important slot. While Talpur claimed to have retaken his previous "key post" of DG P&D (acting), a reliable source said as per new orders the former would serve the PQA as Officer on Special Duty (OSD).
Moreover, a PQA official, conceding that things were "confusing" in PQA, identified K.M Yousaf as DG P&D. Another official named Abdullah Lughari as DG P&D clarifying that Yousaf, who actually was the director DG P&D, had the additional charge of DG P&D on "day-to-day" basis.
He said that Thursday's notification had reverted the 20-grade Talpur back to his "original" post of Director Industrial Management. "The real situation would surface tomorrow (Friday)", the official added.
On the other hand, Talpur told Business Recorder that he had resumed working on the key post of DG P&D. "I knew that I was assigned the chairmanship temporarily, till the time they could find a permanent person for the slot... now I am back to the key post of DG P&D," he added.
However, Abdullah Leghari said as per December 2008 notification of the Establishment Division of Prime Minister he was DG P&D. "Talpur wanted to keep the seat vacant for himself," alleged the disgruntled official. Rejecting Talpur's claim Leghari confirmed that Yousaf was on-duty DG P&D to deal with the day-to-day affairs. Interestingly, the services of Vice Admiral Asad Qureshi(Retd), who as per Talpur's statement would be the "permanent" PQA chairman, which according to sources is the "last" one-year extension given to him by the federal government in January 2008.
Rejecting the impression that his demotion was caused by his absence from the good books of federal minister for ports and shipping, he expressed "complete satisfaction" over the new bureaucratic changes. "I never got any such impression from Minister who always treated me well," he said.
The sources also claimed that "ad hocism" was deep-rooted in PQA where, with a few exceptions like DG Operation Captain Hashmat Ali Shah, no director general was working on permanent basis. With Talpur, Abdullah Leghari and K.M. Yousaf simultaneously claiming to be DG P&D, the finance department was still awaiting a permanent DG after the retirement of S.E. Alam in 2008, they said adding Asim Saleh was the one who was acting as DG Finance and Accounts since then.
The sources said that after the retirement of DG Technical Rear Admiral Muhammad Saeed Kureshi (Retd), Director Chartered Demand Abdul Razzak Bughio had taken over the department as an additional charge. The new PQA Chairman Vice Admiral Asad Qureshi(Retd) was not available for comments.
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