04 December 2004	Saturday	21 Shawwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) suffered a loss of Rs290 million on various projects as indicated by the Auditor General of Pakistan in its latest report , Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan told the Senate here on Friday.

The minister, while replying to a question by Senator Ilyas Bilour, maintained that the auditor general did not point out any irregularity in the latest report on the OPF.

However, Mr Khan did not divulge the ministry's response to the auditor general's report, sent to the Public Accounts Committee, despite insistence for the same by Senator Ishaq Dar.

Replying to Senator Anwar Bhinder's supplementary question about blocked funds, the minister said Rs290 million losses indicated by the auditors included the figure of Rs149.89 million stuck up funds in housing schemes of the OPF which were recoverable through sale of balance residential and commercial plots. He said some of the stuck up funds had been recovered through disposal of the land.

According to the minister's reply, the stuck up funds of Rs149.89 million in housing schemes of the OPF included the land cost and supervision expenses of Rs75.629 million incurred on a housing scheme in Faisalabad.

The scheme was abandoned and its land sold at a cost of Rs352 million through an open auction in August 2004 after the issuance of the audit report. A surplus of Rs277.7 million was thus achieved from this sale alone, the minister said.

When Senator Ishaq Dar challenged the contention of Sarwar Khan that either the auditor general or the ministry were wrong and they could not invent a new accounting system, the minister maintained his earlier position and said losses of investment could not be termed irregularities.

In the written response, the minister said the subsidy provided by the OPF for public schools and hospitals was not a loss. Moreover, investment of Rs94.360 million, which included Rs87.647 million as construction cost for OPF Girls College Islamabad, could not be termed loss.

The minister said a detailed response to the audit report had already been submitted to the Public Accounts Committee and the same was yet to be discussed by the PAC. He said appropriate actions would be initiated in the light of the decisions and directives of the PAC.

Replying to another question regarding completion of Islamabad-Peshawar motorway, Communications Minister Shamim Siddiqui faced tough supplementary questions from senators Asfandyar Wali Khan and Raza Rabbani.

At one stage the acting chairman, Commander (retired) Khalilur Rehman, had to intervene and ask the minister if he wanted the question to be deferred when he could not find the costs of the project from his file.

After seeking time to locate the relevant information in his file, the minister told the house that when the contract was re- awarded to a joint Pakistani firm in 2002, its cost was Rs11.87 million, less than that of the contract originally given to a Turkish firm, Bayinder.

Replying to supplementary questions, the minister said the contract for the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway was originally negotiated in 1993 and the work started in 1994 but was discontinued thereafter till 1997-98. He said when work restarted on the project, its pace was slow and the contract was then awarded to a joint Pakistani venture in December 2002.

The minister said when the contract was initially awarded in 1993, its cost was Rs16.8 million. He said as per the approved schedule, M-1 project would be completed in January 2007.

Replying to questions about Federal Services Tribunal, Minister of State for Law Shahid Akram Bhinder told the house that 13,630 appeals of government servants were pending with the tribunal.

He said in order to provide expeditious justice to the civil servants, action with regard to constitution of new additional benches and amendment to laws was under process.

Answering supplementary questions by senators Farooq Naik, Prof Ghafoor, Raza Rabbani and Mohim Khan Baloch, Mr Bhinder said of the total appeals of the government servants, some 4,408 appeals were pending adjudication in Islamabad bench, 3,698 in Lahore, 4,287 in Karachi, 874 in Peshawar and 363 in Quetta. He said appeals related to service matters including cases of dismissals and seniority etc.