A parliamentary panel was informed by the officials of Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on Friday that attached departments of Ministry of Energy (PD) are defaulting Rs 293 billion on account of various heads. The AGP officials were briefing the sub-committee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which met here under the chairmanship of Syed Naveed Qamar to review and discuss the audit paras of Ministry of Energy for the year 2016-17.
The officials of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) while contradicting the outstanding amount against various attached departments of the ministry, as claimed by the AGP, said these figures are creating confusion and requested the panel to allow the ministry to review the figures at a departmental accounts committee (DAC) meeting. The panel while accepting the request of the ministry directed the AGP and the Energy Ministry to hold a fresh meeting on the matter and bring the clear picture before the committee so that the matter can be settled.
Earlier, the panel expressed serious anger over the absence of the secretary Power Division from the meeting. The ministry officials said that the secretary was busy in a briefing with the minister for power who has just returned from abroad. The panel rejected the plea of the ministry officials, saying it is totally unacceptable and issued a show cause notice to the secretary, seeking written response for the irresponsive act within a week. Naveed Qamar observed that the status of a minister is equal to a member of the committee and the latter deserves same respect. He continued the meeting on assurance from lower staff that the secretary will join the meeting soon.
At the outset of the meeting, the audit officials informed the committee that Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), GENCOs and DISCO are defaulter of Rs 293 billion. The AGP officials said even the best performing companies are defaulting billions of rupees and as a result circular debt is mounting because the companies have failed to pay the outstanding amounts.
The committee chairman returned the matter to the DAC to correct the figures with consensus and bring them back to the committee within fortnight. During the meeting, the committee also discussed issues pertaining to K-Electric. The panel was informed that K-Electric has been getting furnace oil and gas supply since 2015 as a result of a stay order granted by a court.
The secretary told the meeting that the attitude of K-Electric is irresponsible while pressing in favour of Shanghai Electric Company. He said WAPDA has provided more electricity to K-Electric to control the power outages but the company is not able to manage load shedding. Member committee Ayaz Sadiq asked the secretary power when WAPDA signed power supply agreement with K-Electric and on which terms and conditions. He also asked if there is any attribution clause in the agreement.
Power Division officials told the panel that probably the agreement was signed when Naveed Qamar was federal minister. Qamar promptly rejected the ministry's response, saying that the agreement was not signed during his tenure as federal minister.
Ayaz Sadiq addressing the federal secretary power stated that the WAPDA and K-Electric signed agreement when Hafeez Sheikh, the PM's adviser on Finance, was federal minister for privatisation. The panel suggested that the matter should be sent to the prime minister's advisor on finance to resolve it as he was the man who did the agreement with K-Electric.
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