ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas on Monday took up the issue of alleged malpractices worth Rs1.4 billion by a National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) consultant in the Park Road Housing Scheme of Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) and sought a report.

The meeting was chaired by Senator Shahzaib Durrani and attended by Senators Saifullah Abro, Mohammad Aslam Abro, Hamid Khan, Aimal Wali Khan, Special Secretary for Power Division Arshad Majeed Mohmand, Managing Director (MD) Nespak Mohammad Zargham Eshaq Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) Saeed Ahmad, CEO Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Raham Ali Otho and other senior officials of relevant departments.

MD Nespak informed the meeting his organisation had constituted a Fact-Finding Committee to probe the allegations; and as the next step, show-cause notices have been issued to three officers while four officers have been suspended until the inquiry is completed.

Senator Shahzaib Durrani questioned whether the housing ministry had conducted any inquiry into the matter. DG FGEHA apprised the ministry had conducted an inquiry, and the Project Director was found guilty and subsequently terminated from service and his case was sent to the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA).

The committee chairman stated that one person could not orchestrate a plan involving fraud of Rs1.4 billion on his own. The committee directed the housing ministry to submit the report of the in-house inquiry conducted by the ministry.

Nespak MD informed the meeting that Nespak was providing construction supervision services to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Civil and Works Department for 83 roads across 11 districts of KP, including seven districts of the erstwhile Fata.

The length of those roads is around 872.65 km, with an estimated cost of Rs25.7 billion. The committee directed Nespak to provide complete details of the projects undertaken by it for reconstruction projects aimed at rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

They discussed the implementation of recommendations made in its previous meeting regarding details of actions taken against “corrupt” Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesc) officials contributing to power theft in Balochistan over the past five years.

Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani highlighted that details provided by Qesco indicated that officers had terminated the services of individuals on absurd grounds of personal bias. Surprisingly, in one case, an SDO had terminated the service of an individual for not showing interest in the drive against power theft but in another case, only a minor penalty was imposed on an employee for misconduct and corruption.

Despite the removal of the so-called corrupt officers, power theft did not decrease at Qesco, he added. The chairman directed the power division to thoroughly examine the disciplinary actions taken by Qesco and submit a report within 30 days.

Moreover, the committee expressed displeasure over the provision of an unsatisfactory briefing from Sespco. The committee directed Sepco and Hesco to provide a detailed briefing on the unannounced loadshedding and theft in the area, along with a plan to control theft, during the next meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024