The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday sought a complete record of payments in excess of Rs102 million made by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to the Sindh and Punjab Rangers for security of Sui northern and southern gas installations.
A PAC meeting chaired by PPP leader Khursheed Shah was reviewing a 2016 audit of the ministry. The report said that Rs48m was paid to the Sindh Rangers whereas Rs54m was paid to the Punjab Rangers on the basis of a 2003 agreement signed between the ministry and the Rangers.
Audit officials said the Sindh Rangers outsourced security for Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd to a private company, billing M/S Mehmood and Brothers for security through the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR).
The report added that the Punjab Rangers paid rent for 20 cars from a company named M/S Barki Traders.
However, the report noted that all payments were made "on the basis of vouched account submitted by Pakistan Rangers Sindh and Pakistan Rangers Punjab for security duty".
A scrutiny of the 'vouched accounts' revealed that "the payments were made on the basis of an agreement between the Pakistan Rangers and the Ministry of Petroleum but neither a copy of the contract nor concurrence to the contract by the Ministry of Finance was provided."
Additionally, "Ministry paid bill of M/S Mehmood and Brothers presented by the Pakistan Rangers Sindh. However, record relating to award of the contract to the contractor and procurement process followed was not provided to audit despite requests. (Pakistan Rangers Sindh had also not provided these details/documents during their audit)."
"Ministry paid bill of M/S Barki Traders presented by Pakistan Rangers Punjab for hiring of 20 vehicles. However, the procurement process followed for such services has not been shared with the audit."
The report said that there was also no recorded evidence of income tax deductions for the hiring of vehicles and other charges.
"In the absence of the record, the authenticity of the expenditure could not be ascertained," the audit report said.
Additionally, the report said, "as per a summary submitted by the Petroleum Ministry to the prime minister, the current arrangement may not continue indefinitely, especially in view of the expenses involved and apparent distraction of agencies from their core functions. However, it may continue on selective sites to be identified by the companies in consultation with the relevant security agencies."
Subsequently, the PAC asked for a complete record of the ministry's agreement with the Rangers and all payments made.
