April 13, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 12: Highlighting 12 instances of unsatisfactory monitoring of fund utilisation, an audit report has detected irregularities worth Rs38.968 million in the accounts of the ministry of culture including violation of rules in awarding contract for construction of the Rs179 million National Art Gallery.

Expressing dismay, the report said in July 2005 Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) awarded the contract of civil and plumbing work at National Art Gallery to Builders Associates, Lahore, without calling open tenders as required under Rule 12 of Public Procurement Rules 2004.

Instead of advertising the expression of interest in newspapers, pre-selected firms were short listed and only these firms were provided with the bidding documents. This resulted in an unfair opportunity for other eligible firms and deprived the government of a chance to get better quality of price through an open competitive bidding process.

The report also lamented over spending of Rs15 million on the inauguration of the National Art Gallery. Its advance payment was released without assessing actual requirement. The audit was of the opinion that even if the expenditure was incurred, it was established that the funds were not utilised for the intended purpose, as the inauguration had not taken place.

The Auditor General of Pakistan’s report 2006-07 submitted to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday said the ministry of culture released grants to other organisations on the condition that the receiving entity would submit the statement of accounts at the close of the financial year after all grants are spent for the purpose for which they were intended.

However, the report said the management released Rs38.968 million to Pakistan Sports Board under demand No 130 - development expenditure of culture, sports and youth affairs. But the audit found that no adjustment account was available with the ministry and a monitoring system did not exist. The report said the auditors could not provide an assurance that the funds were used for the intended purposes.

According to the audit, no records were available for the Rs1,682,000 released for repair/renovation of PSB coaching centre Quetta, Rs1,290,000 for construction of a sports stadium in Mardan, Rs5,196,000 for construction of a stadium in Charsadda, Rs8,723,000 for establishment of a sports stadium in Lakki Marwat, Rs11,000,000 for construction of a sports complex in Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Rs650,000 for improvement of tennis courts and hockey ground at Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar, and Rs1,499,000 for providing facilities at Qazi Mohib Hockey Stadium, Bannu, to mention a few.