PECO shares sold at throwaway price: PAC directs Ministry to submit final findings

Public Accounts Committee has directed the Ministry of Industries and Production to hold final meeting with Ministry of Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Auditor General of Pakistan and present final finding regarding the scam about selling shares of Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO) at throwaway prices.
The inquiry report regarding the sale of shares of PECO at the cheapest rates was laid before the PAC on Tuesday, which met with Yasmeen Rehman, in the chair.
The committee was informed that the shares of PECO valued more than Rs 3 billions were sold to some individuals and groups at throwaway prices of Rs 80 millions only.
The investigation report had held former Chairman National Investment Trust (NIT) Tariq Iqbal and three others were responsible for the scam, however, PAC directed Ministry of industries to hold meetings with concerned ministries and departments and submit final findings about the scam within seven days.
The Implementation and Monitoring Committee of the PAC was informed that former Chairman NIT in connivance of some powerful and influential people including Asif Jamil, Athar Hassan and Fayaz managed the sale of PECO shares at the cheapest prices and caused loss of billions to national exchequer.
The committee also took matter of theft of gas of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Managing Director SNGPL informed the committee that most of gas was stolen by industrial and commercial customers in Lahore and Gujranwala where two or three thefts were reported daily.
Responding to queries from the parliamentarians about the effectiveness of smart meters installed by SNGPL, Managing Director, SNGPL, Rashid Lone revealed before the committee that thieves had become even over smart than smart gas meters and often devise new ways for stealing gas.
He also informed the Committee that mushroom growth of CNG stations had also badly affected gas supply to domestic consumers. He said that there are about 2700 CNG stations in the north, which are increasing the gap between supply and demand of the commodity.
He said that proposals for increasing gas tariffs almost equal to petrol and diesel have been moved to federal cabinet to discourage CNG usage by commuting purposes.
He further said that CNG stations consumed 11% of total gas consumption and earned at least 30% profit to owners of stations. National gas demand increasing from 7 to 9 per cent per annum, while new explorations were not made in sufficient quantities, he informed the Committee.
He said that two new gas explorations had been made in Kohat and Karak, which were linked with the main supply line at Peshawar, and soon gas production from the areas would be reached 600 million cubic feet and then another alternative gas supply pipeline would be laid to Islamabad via Fateh Jang.
Another Sub-Committee headed by Zahid Hamid was informed that Pakistan State Oil had to receive biggest amount from HUBCO against the provision of furnace oil.
However, committee on a para about over expenditures of $4 75,000 over the construction of IT facility in San Francisco without approval of PC-I directed Ministry of Information and Technology to register case against accused officials with Federal Investigation Authority (FIA).
Secretary IT Ministry told the committee that neither record nor other documents were available so he had written letter to Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the provision of required documents. Committee directed the ministry to write provincial government about whereabouts of the accused official Tauheed Ahmad to bring him to task for committing embezzlement of billions of Rupees.