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| December 17, 2005 | Saturday | Ziqa’ad 14, 1426 |
Tough day for state minister for water
ISLAMABAD, Dec 16: It was a humiliating day for Minister of State for Water and Power Amir Muqam in the National Assembly on Friday as he was the target of admonition from all sides. National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain was the most aggressive in his criticism of the minister’s failure to properly answer questions put to him during the Question Hour.
At the outset of the Question Hour, People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA from Lahore Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan pointed out that the Ministry of Water and Power had not replied to some 26 questions asked by members on various issues.
Later, it was revealed that the ministry had given replies to only 11 questions out of a total of 40 questions.
The speaker took serious notice of the fact and asked the minister as to what he was doing and why he was not taking notice of the situation. He said no one should take the questions asked by the members lightly.
When the minister of state said he had already taken notice and the ministry officials had been directed to submit replies as early as possible, the speaker said a copy of all the “warning letters” written by the minister to the ministry officials should also be submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat.
The speaker also said no government official could take any kind of liberty if the minister had a tight grip over the ministry affairs.
Several treasury and opposition members complained that the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was returning their proposed development schemes on one pretext or the other.
When the minister took the floor and said there was no restriction on the development schemes initiated from the members’ funds, the speaker interrupted and said, “Look, your own party members and colleagues are protesting and complaining against Wapda. Please, take complaints of all the members in writing and also report to me.”
The members were of the view that Wapda officials were also involved in water theft incidents, but no action had been taken against them.
Just before conclusion of the Question Hour, the speaker advised the minister to convene a meeting of the Wapda officers from top to bottom and issue a warning that strict action would be taken against them if any complaint was found.
“I know that you are a competent man and work very hard, but your ministry people let you down and create an embarrassing situation for you. You have seen the atmosphere of the House and no member is satisfied with the working of Wapda. All the members have complaints against Wapda, which means Wapda officers are not performing well,” the speaker observed.
Later the Senate standing committee on water and power, which met in the Parliament House, also expressed its concern over the absence of Minister of Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi and and his junior minister Amir Muqam from the meeting and decided to move a privilege motion against them.
According to an official handout of the Senate Secretariat, the committee members unanimously decided that “serious irregularities were made by the Wapda management while awarding contract to a Chinese firm. These observations were made by the committee while discussing Mangla Dam Raising Project.
PPP Senator Dr Abdullah Riar attended the meeting on special invitation and informed the committee that no proper procedure was adopted for the award of the contract to the Chinese firm and the pre-qualification bid contained several lacunas.
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