December 5, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 29,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: The top hierarchy of National Highway Authority (NHA) comprises over 90 per cent of the serving and retired army officers, including one major-general, two brigadiers and 20 serving and retired army officers of the rank of major and above.

The induction of a large number of serving and retired army officers in the authority has been causing a great deal of heart burning among the civilian staff, NHA staff stated in a petition to the newly-elected prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

“A number of illegal appointments have also been made in the prestigious organization by the headstrong management of the NHA, after laying all hardworking civil employees off and planting their favourites bulldozing all rules and regulations in clear violation of appointments and promotion rules,” said the petition.

This situation has been prevailing in the NHA for the last three years but the staff got the courage to make a petition to the prime minister only after the installation of an elected government, a staff member said on the request of anonymity.

The NHA staff, in the petition, highlighted financial corruption running into billions of rupees besides pinpointing illegal appointments made in the authority after the military takeover in November 1999.

“The NHA employees are facing nightmares of joblessness, suspension and dismissals every other day,” said the petition.

The practice of appointing retired and serving army officers on key positions in the NHA, besides causing a great deal of frustrations among the employees, has blocked their chances of promotions, transfers and regularization of committed and deserving employees.

“The hardworking and honest public officials have been sidelined, forced to resign, dismissed, transferred, awaiting posting or are facing inquires against fake cases for objecting to the illegal actions and non-compliance of malicious orders of the present NHA management,” it added.

The Establishment Division too has simply acted as post office for this management in processing the cases of these retired and serving army officers despite the fact that their appointments have far exceed the 10 per cent quota reserved for them.

The petition was attached with a list of serving and retired officers who had been allegedly appointed in the authority in violation of the rules and regulations and without fulfilling any criteria or advertisements.

Apart from the “illegal appointments” the NHA staff alleged that a number of consultants had also been hired without any advertisements, requisite qualification and justification on heavy salaries and emoluments.