PAC snubs CAA officials

Snubbing the senior officials of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Tuesday observed that due to incompetence of CAA officials not only massive irregularities in various projects are surfacing but it is also putting additional financial burden on the national kitty. The PAC meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Khursheed Ahmad Shah to discuss and review the audit paras of the CAA. The meeting was informed by the officials of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) that CAA awarded the contract of building water supply facility/dam for the new Islamabad International Airport to a company not registered with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).
The audit officials said that the award of the contract worth Rs 660 million to a company not registered with the PEC is illegal, adding that the company won the contract by submitting fake documents. The officials said that the CAA also caused multimillion rupees financial losses to the national kitty as five aircraft belonging to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have been recently grounded.
The committee while expressing disappointment over the response of the secretary CAA directed the AGP to conduct a performance audit of the authority. The panel also directed the CAA to give the details of 143 employees appointed in the authority with fake degrees. According to the audit officials, the employees with fake documents caused Rs 60 million financial losses to the national kitty.
The panel was informed that the PIA stopped New York flights following massive financial losses which surged to Rs 1.5 billion per annum. The audit officials said that the CAA also caused Rs 181 million losses to the national kitty by not receiving parking charges from an international airline, as aircraft of the airline remained parked in Pakistan for three years but the CAA instead of getting parking charges from the airline auctioned the craft for Rs 8 million.
Aviation authorities said that the aircraft remained parked in Pakistan from 2011-14 and the authorities tried to find the operator but failed; therefore, they were auctioned. Shah asked how the PIA was obtaining aircraft on lease while five of its existing planes remained grounded. Responding to the question, the aviation secretary informed the committee that a Boeing-777 had been grounded due to the unavailability of engine. However, the engine has since been acquired and the plane will likely begin operations by the end of this month, he said. Another aircraft, A-320, will also be made functional by December 15 after replacement of its engines, he added.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Senator Sherry Rehman asked what was being done about losses to the tune of Rs 1.25 billion incurred following the closure of PIA's Premier Service. She also asked why the parking contracts for the airports are being outsourced and whether current employees would lose their jobs because of the decision.
Replying to Rehman's queries, federal secretary aviation said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is looking into the closure of the Premier Service and clarified that outsourcing parking contracts is a standard procedure across the globe and that no employee would be laid off in the process. The audit officials informed the committee that a contract worth Rs 660 million for a dam near New Islamabad Airport was given to an unqualified contractor who submitted fake documents. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Arif Alvi asked how a party with no experience in building dams was given the contract.
PTI's Shafqat Mehmood observed that the construction of the New Islamabad Airport is being constantly delayed and scandals around it are gradually coming forward. "Has a case been registered against anyone or has anyone been punished?" he asked. The CAA officials said that the airport is a green-field project for which they had no expertise, which had caused problems. However, they assured that it would be made operational and is just awaiting a Metro Bus route and a baggage handling system. The Metro Bus route will be made operational by December 25, the committee was informed.
Shah then asked why a metro route was being extended to the new airport. "Will the passengers come to the airport in metro buses or in cars?" Shah asked. The PAC subsequently called for a report on the irregularities in the construction of the dam to be submitted in three months after investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The PAC also ordered an enquiry into irregularities committed in the construction of the baggage terminal at the airport last month.