KARACHI: Expressing grave concern and displeasure over the constant lethargic attitude of officials in providing audit record of different provincial departments, the Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday summoned the chief secretary and other top provincial government officers in the next meeting.

At the outset of the proceedings, PAC Chairman Nisar Khuhro was irked to learn that the Board of Revenue (BoR) had not provided the audit record of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project relating to irregularities over Rs62 billion.

Expressing displeasure over the absence of the audit record before the PAC, he issued instructions to summon all deputy commissioners concerned along with all audit records of the RBOD project.

PAC members Qasim Siraj Soomro, Khurram Karim Soomro and Sadia Javed, along with senior members of the Board of Revenue and several deputy commissioners participated in the meeting.

Committee chairman asks all DCs concerned to appear in person along with audit records of the project

The meeting reviewed the audit paragraphs of the BoR from the year 2019 to 2021. However, the BoR officials could provide records of only six audit paragraphs out of 57 audit paragraphs and could not provide audit records related to irregularities in the RBOD project of more than 62 billion rupees.

The PAC chairman said that the matter pertained to irregularities in the RBOD project which had not been completed yet.

He said that the PAC could not ignore irregularities in the project, adding that details regarding the land acquired for the project were required to examine the matter.

Mr Khuhro said that PAC needed to examine how the land was acquired and how far the project had reached and where so many billions had been spent.

The Senior Member BoR informed the PAC that the RBOD project involved three to four districts in RBOD and sought 15 days for providing relevant record after taking details from the deputy commissioners concerned and the irrigation department.

The BoR officials informed the PAC that the money for purchasing land for RBOD was provided by the irrigation department to the deputy commissioners of the respective districts.

However, the PAC chairman observed that the officials’ reply could not be considered satisfactory without the audit record. “It’s a matter of public money and the record will have to be given,” he said.

The PAC will meet after 15 days.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024