DADU: Describing the ongoing wheat procurement process as a ‘mega scandal’, Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chairman and former Sindh chief minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi on Saturday urged the National Accountability Bureau and other investigation agencies to look into the embezzlement of billions of rupees by government functionaries in all schemes, projects and transactions.

Speaking to the media at the residence of AIP general secretary Syed Zafar Ali Shah in Dadu, Mr Jatoi said food officials across the province had already sold away gunny worth Rs5 billion to traders and influential landowners instead of those small growers who were supposed to get the essentially required bags according to the size of their wheat produce.

He noted that the aggrieved growers were protesting over the unfair treatment being meted out to them and the ultimate huge losses being suffered by them.

In many instances, small growers had not received gunny bags at all, he observed, and said this was a mega corruption case which must be investigated on a priority basis to save growers from the huge losses in the current season.

Mr Jatoi also claimed that in the name of wheat procurement, food officials were lifting substandard wheat stocks which would also cause huge losses to the government. Unscrupulous traders and politically influential figures were also involved in the racket, he added.

Accompanied by former Dadu district nazim Karim Ali Jatoi and Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Mr Jatoi made mention of other instances of mega corruption on the part of certain Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers and activists saying that Rs180 million allocated for the desilting of Johi branch was eaten up as no such works were carried out.

Similarly, the funds released for various water and other development schemes meant for the Kachho desert area of Dadu district had not been spent. “Women of the area still have to travel 15 to 20 miles from their villages to fetch subsoil water, which is not fit for human consumption,” he observed.

Mega corruption in almost all departments had destroyed governance in Sindh, the AIP chief claimed, adding that it was still on the increase in the absence of proper checks and balances.

Mr Jatoi demanded arrest of all corrupt leaders, activists and officials to facilitate a fair investigation into all corruption cases by the NAB and other investigation institutions. He said the looted wealth of the nation must be retrieved from them and deposited in the exchequer.

Mr Jatoi said that the people of Dadu, Khairpur Nathen Shah, Johi, Mehar and other towns were suffering due to the dilapidated condition of roads, sewerage system and crumbling utilities as the provincial government had miserably failed to deliver and corrupt elements remained out to take away development funds before execution of schemes they were meant for.

He claimed that multi-billion corruption could be detected in Dadu district alone if a fair, proper and swift investigation was ensured.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2016