PESHAWAR, Dec 2: Not satisfied with the process of reviewing the SAP-funded schemes’ financial accounts, the World Bank wants the NWFP government to establish an effective reviewing process to reduce corruption, official sources told Dawn.
Observations to this effect were made by one of the World Bank’s missions that visited Pakistan to hold inquiries into the misappropriation in the SAP funds, according to a set of official documents available with Dawn.
The World Bank mission observed: “The lack of review process leads to the misappropriation and mismanagement (of SAP funds)”.
Similarly, on the basis of information gathered during a visit to the NWFP, the mission observed that during the operation and implementation stages some of the funds (under the SAP) were misappropriated.
In addition to that, the mission found that political and feudal lords influenced the government functionaries, in several instances, and appeared to be major cause of corruption.
The World Bank authorities, said the official sources, also brought into question the quality of reports submitted by the auditors who audited SAP funded schemes’ financial accounts for the four financial years - 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
Rather, the sources added, the World Bank mission termed the audit reports as weak area and asked for improving the standards.
Out of the over Rs25 billion expenditure made under the SAP during the above-mentioned four financial years, expenditure involving a collective sum of over Rs1.2 billion has been brought under observation under the various charges including corruption, expenditure without lawful authority, doubtful expenditure and misappropriation of SAP funds.
The World Bank, said the sources, had also expressed dissatisfaction with the monitoring and supervision programme of the SAP line departments including health, education, public health engineering and communication & works department.
Terming the monitoring and supervision programme of the SAP line departments as ‘inadequate’, the mission observed that these departments had not even maintained records of the complaints made by the general public and follow-up actions taken on the basis of public complaints.
It held that in most of the cases job descriptions were not available nor there existed clear-cut delegation of authority at the lower level making impediments at the implementation stages.
Apart from recommending effective financial management and attention on the part of the provincial government, the mission also asked for the framing of standardized procedures for various areas including investment monitoring and evaluation procedures, staff training, posting and transfer policy for the public sector employees, job description, procedures for procurement, procedures for recruitment of employees and for ‘hiring & firing’ employees.
Besides, the mission also raised observation viz-a-viz physical verification of assets at the district and even the line departments level which, observed the mission, was not existent.
It noted that assets at the district and line departments level were not verifiable from the record and the assets’ inventory was missing.
