July 19, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 03, 1428

RAWALPINDI, July 18: A high-level committee has been constituted to probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds in different tiers of the Energy Conservation Fund, federal minister for environment Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat announced in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The minister took serious note of the unauthorised spending of funds while chairing a meeting of the ECF.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is also a member of the ECF, had called for an independent audit of the accounts maintained by the ECF. The UNDP representative attending the meeting also proposed the need for a robust mechanism for the transfer of funds between different accounts of ECF.

The meeting decided to conduct a special audit by a well- reputed firm.

The meeting also agreed to induct new members of ECF by the start of next year. The meeting approved the investment of capital lying in Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) in high yielding projects to better utilise the amount. The RLF currently has about Rs200 million in its accounts maintained in different banks.

The UNDP representative raised objections regarding transparency in the recruitment process in ECF in the past.