ISLAMABAD, Jan 29: The ad hoc Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday noted with concern financial irregularities worth millions of rupees in the accounts of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources during the year 1999-2000, and ordered its Principal Accounting officer to improve financial management.

The committee was told that the KESC and Wapda owed Rs3.2 billion, out of Rs7 billion, to the ministry under the head of trade and receivable amount.

H.U. Baig, who presided over the meeting, ordered an inquiry into unauthorised expenditure of Rs19.409 million on the import of gas service valves by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the year 1996-97. He also seriously viewed the termination of contract of a local manufacturer who had already pre-qualified and had offered the lowest rate of Rs249 per valve.

Mr Baig was also not happy with the placement of the order for the supply of 80,000 valves with a foreign supplier at a rate of Rs637.18 per valve, which was almost three times more than that of the lowest bid offered by a local bidder.

Due to this irregularity the SNGPL suffered a loss of Rs19.409 million, the committee was informed.

The PAC was informed that the Pakistan Sate Oil had suffered a loss of Rs7.35 million on leasing of corporate office in Islamabad on the directive of the then Petroleum Minister, Anwar Saifullah.

The chairman ordered referring of the case to the NAB.

It was further informed that the OGDC accrued a loss of Rs9.618 million due to non-recovery of seismic equipment rental charges from a firm in 1996 without any security guarantee. As the company had repatriated, the chance of recovery also diminished with it. The PAO was asked to constitute inquiry to fix responsibility and report the facts to the PAC within 30 days.

The committee was informed that the unaccounted gas losses which stood at 13 per cent, were reduced to 8.4 per cent against the world model of six per cent and in financial terms loss of one per cent comes to Rs250 million.

The PAC meeting, which reviewed the audited accounts, was attended among others by Talat Masood, Muzaffar Ahmad, Hasan Bhutto, Shaukat Hussain Kazmi, S.M. Zafarullah, Mujahid Eshai, Dr Waseem Azhar and Auditor-General of Pakistan Manzoor Hussain.