LAHORE, Nov 4: Bungling of over Rs52 billion in tehsil municipal administrations has come to fore through a special audit. Two phases of the audit have already been completed while the third and the last phase is scheduled to complete by Nov 15.

The TMAs in Jhelum and Murree have proved to be the most corrupt among the administrations, says a handout.

This was stated by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after presentation of special audit reports of 144 TMAs in the province by the finance department.

He said instructions had been issued to the finance department to conduct special audits to ascertain allegations of irregularities by the TMAs.

He said no checks and balances and financial discipline system had been adopted in TMAs for ensuring proper utilisation of funds. Abuse of power, disbursement of unnecessary amounts, embezzlement and other irregularities were found in TMAs.

The audit of the TMAs in the second phase showed that the record of the TMA Jatoi was not available and a case had been registered by the local government. The chief minister took serious notice of the issue and ordered suspension of those responsible for it.

Similarly, he said the record of the Gujjar Khan TMA also was not submitted. He said the audit of the city district governments should be conducted by third party besides ensuring the proper implementation of the instructions.

Special audit reports of the district governments are likely to be completed by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of the PML-N lawyers, Shahbaz said the party had stuck to its stance of restoration of judges and independence of judiciary. He urged the lawyers to discharge their professional duties for dispensation of justice to the masses.

Energy projects: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said power generation through alternate sources is the need of the hour and the provincial government will ensure speedy implementation of energy generation projects from coal for development of industry.

Ordering the establishment of a company for making arrangements for power generation from coal during a briefing at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here on Tuesday, he said the provincial government was working on a number of projects to overcome shortage of electricity. Prospects of power generation from coal, solar energy and biogas were being examined so that energy could be generated through alternate sources and the industries and other sectors should not face shortage of electricity. He said coal could prove the best alternative source of energy as it would not only be cheaper but the reservoirs of coal in the country would also be utilised.