LAHORE, Oct 14: Taking serious notice of what he called negative tendency among officers of the C&W department of shifting the liability of making payment of any amount pertaining to the period of their predecessors, the Punjab ombudsman has called for evolving a policy by the secretary and chief engineers (highways) concerned for the department officials in the province to avoid such an eventuality.

Ombudsman Justice Sajjad Ahmad Sipra (retired) issued directives to this effect on a complaint lodged by a government contractor regarding non-payment of his outstanding bills for the repairs of department’s vehicles.

The complainant had pointed out in his complaint that the bills submitted by him were duly passed by the SDO concerned but when these were to be placed before the XEN, he was transferred and his successor was not ready to sign them.

The ombudsman in his observations said that it reflected mal-administration and inefficiency on the part of the agency. It was, he added, unfortunate that it had become a general tendency among officers in the C&W department of shifting the liability of payments relating to the period of their predecessors.

He said that the C&W department secretary as well as chief engineers (highways) should look into the matter on their own level to formulate policy for other officers working in the province. In the case before him, the ombudsman directed the chief engineer highways (north) to decide the matter within three months after proper verification of the claim of the complainant.