Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday ordered National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to carryout inquiry into alleged wrongdoing in the utilisation of funds allocated by energy & petroleum (E&P) companies for uplift of local communities in various districts of Sindh.
A division bench of SHC comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice K K Agha issued these orders after Auditor General of Pakistan submitted its report, which identified discrepancies in utilisation of funds by local district administrations.
SHC directed NAB chairman to open an inquiry into such wrong doing under National Accountability Ordinance and proceed against the concerned persons under it and submit a compliance report with the court prior to the next hearing.
SHC bench is hearing the petition of Roshan Lakhan, a resident of district Ghotki, who moved the court against non-compliance of Supreme Court (SC)'s orders viz-a-viz utilisation of funds from oil & gas companies under corporate social responsibility (CSR) for uplift of local community.
According to the report, E&P companies transferred the funds to districts without taking on board Sindh Government and Director General Petroleum Concessions (PC) and recommended that DG PC and Sindh government should make coordinated efforts for efficient and effective implementation of guidelines for utilization of funds through with an improved mechanism of monitoring and for the utilization of funds received on account of Social Welfare Obligations (SWO), Production Bonus (PB) and Marine Research Fee (MRF).
It revealed that thirty seven percent of funds were utilised by violating the guidelines whereas thirty nine percent remained unutilised.
The report made recommendations for the proper utilisation of funds, which suggest that PAO may devise an accounting framework in consultation with the Auditor General of Pakistan to bring the SWO, PB and MRF funds into Government accounts.
It also proposed that petroleum division may make the CMS fully operational to be able to generate data regarding due amounts of obligations vs actual payments and Government of Sindh should ensure transparent utilization of funds in line with guidelines and relevant procurement rules.
Report also recommended that orientation workshops be carried out for relevant district management staff regarding different funds and their utilization as per guidelines.
It suggested that funds should be transferred by the E&P companies to Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) being the focal division and then these should be transferred to respective provinces public account for onward distribution among the districts.
It recommended that mechanism needs to be developed to ensure that E&P companies also play their obligations promptly and comply with the government's guidelines.
Comments
Comments are closed.