12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, July 11: Influential political families are involved in the so-called community centres' scam, confirms a report submitted to the Public Accounts Committee-I of the Punjab Assembly by the local government department.

According to a copy of the report made available to Dawn, the beneficiaries are Variyos of Sialkot, Lak, Pirachas and Ranjhas of Sargodha, Dhandlas of Bhakkar, Khaggas of Pakpattan, Cheemas, Virks and Ranas of Gujranwala, Tarars of Mandi Bahauddin, Bhattis of Hafizabad, Langrials of Sahiwal, and Mohals of Bahawalnagar.

The most prominent political figures among them are jailed PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, sitting interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, former National Assembly speaker Syed Fakhar Imam, former chief minister Manzoor Wattoo, former federal minister Begum Shahnaz Javed, and Punjab power minister Armughan Subhani.

A total of 1,252 centres were built between 1985 and '6 at a cost of over Rs235 million under the Peoples' Works Programme of the PPP and Tameer-i-Punjab programme of the PML-N. Of them, 465 centres worth Rs123 million were raised on the private land of MNAs/MPAs because of their influence. In most of the cases these centres are still in their use as their outhouses and residences.

Taking a serious note of the situation, the PAC headed by Muhammad Azeem Nuri Ghumman directed the local government department on April 7 to submit a list of the defaulters and give them six months for repayment of the misappropriated funds.

Three months have since passed but and a fraction of the amount outstanding has been deposited with the treasury. Earlier, the case was referred to the National Accountability Bureau in June 25, 2000, but no action was taken against the powerful defaulters, many of whom have again made to the assemblies.

According to the breakdown, two centres were built in Rawalpindi division, 171 in Gujranwala, 54 in Sargodha, 24 in Faisalabad, 55 in Lahore, 72 in Multan, 39 in Dera Ghazi Khan, and 48 in Bahawalpur division.

For fear of NAB or some other reason, refunding against 48 such centres has been made, whereas land in 132 cases has been transferred to the state. But even the transfer of land to the state, 69 centres are still in private use instead of the community as envisaged in the plan.

The politicians who fall in the first category included Mehr Ghulam Dastagir Lak, Ehsanul Haq Piracha and Farrukh Javed Ghumman of Sargodha, Haji Afzal Chann of Mandi Bahauddin, Rana Tanvir Husain of Sheikhupura, Zafarullah Dhandala of Bhakkar and Pir Muhammad Shah Khagga of Pakpattan.

Those prominent in the second category are: Chaudhry Shaukat Hayat, Abdullah Virk, Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmad, Rana Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gujranwala); former minister Dr Sheela B. Charles; Muhammad Tariq Tarar (Mandi Bahauddin); Malik Iqbal Ahmad Langrial (Sahiwal); ex-speaker Syed Fakhar Imam (Khanewal); ex-MNA Akbar Ali Bhatti (Vehari); Mian Ghulam Fareed Chishti, Sardar Mansib Ali Dogar and Rao Muhammad Hashim (Pakpattan); Mian Manzoor Ahmad Mohal, Mumtaz Matiana (Bahawalnagar).

The land of 285 centres has not yet been transferred to the state and of them 121 are in private use. Known former and sitting MPs who fell in this category are the husband of incumbent Punjab minorities minister Mrs Rufin Julius, divisional PPP leader Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Begum Raj Hameed Gill, Adil Sharif Gill, Dr Sheela B Charles, Shahnawaz Cheema, Khush Akhtar Subhani, Armughan Subhani, Mehdi Hasan Bhatti (Hafizabad), Haji Muhammad Afzal Chann, Khalid Ghurki, Abdul Rashid Bhatti (Patriots), ex-MNA Munawwar Husain Manj, Saeed Ahmad Zafar Padhyar, Syed Ali Raza Shah, Shaukat Daud, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, and Malik Iqbal Langrial.

Some of these centres are lying vacant or have been sealed by the authorities concerned. These have been got built by ex-chief minister Manzoor Wattoo, sitting interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, Farrukh Javed Ghumman, late Mehr Khuda Dad Lak, Col Qadir Bakhsh Mela, Shahnawaz Ranjha, and Khwaja Hameedud Din Sialvi.