LAHORE: Anti-Corruption Establishment Director General retired Brig Muzaffar Ali Ranjha has asked Nespak to directly inform ACE about embezzlement, violation of rules, deviation from design and use of substandard material in development projects, says a handout.

Addressing a meeting at Nespak, Mr Ranjha said: “The ACE is determined to break nexus between government officials and contractors which is one of the major causes of loss to the national exchequer.”

He said ACE and Nespak would make joint efforts to check financial embezzlement and ensure quality of work in development projects.

The DG said: “Nespak is supervising all development projects as a consultant and its engineers are present on the spot for the purpose.”

He asked the Nespak engineers to point out irregularities so that prompt action could be taken.

“The engineers must keep national interest in mind and should not allow any officer or contractor to opt for compromise. It is in my notice that officials of the respective departments manage to issue tenders to their favourite contractors. In such cases, Nespak engineers also keep mum and do not report irregularities to the proper forum hence considered as co-accused in case of inquiries,” he said.

The DG asked the Nespak to constitute in-house committees and an inquiry cell to keep an eye on mega development projects and itself review issues of violation for self-accountability.

Published in Dawn October 20th, 2016