July 18, 2008	Friday	Rajab 14, 1429

QUETTA, July 17: National Accountability Bureau’s director-general for Balochistan Brig (retd) Mussadiq Abbasi has said that an amount of Rs413 million has been recovered from corrupt elements in the province over the past eight years. The countrywide recovery, he added, totalled Rs225 billion.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said the health department topped in corruption in the province and the food department came second.

He said that a total of 1,416 corruption references had been filed in accountability courts. Of them 753 have been decided.In Balochistan, 182 cases were filed and 127 have been decided.

He said Pakistan’s position on the corruption index had gone down to 42 from number two because of the good performance of the National Accountability Bureau.

He said the NAB should not be blamed for the release of some people because they were exonerated by high courts and the apex court.

He said that armed forces personnel were out of NAB’s jurisdiction and as in other countries they were not covered by corruption laws.

He said the NAB had filed corruption references against 17 retired military officers.

He said check and balance provisions of the local government law had not been enforced strictly, which led to corruption in local government institutions.

He said that recovery of loans from defaulters had also improved.