ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Tuesday decided to set up a subcommittee which would look into the affairs of National Highway Authority (NHA).
The meeting chaired by Senator Hidayatullah was held at the Parliament House.
There were a number of issues on the agenda including questions moved by Senator Mian Ateeq Sheikh who asked, on May 8, about collection of revenue at toll plazas during the last six years and amount utilised on the maintenance and rehabilitation of G.T. Road.
Mr Sheikh expressed dissatisfaction over the reply submitted by the NHA.
“NHA should inform the committee that how much revenue is collected at each toll plaza. Moreover, the director general audit should share last three years audit report of NHA with the committee,” he said, requesting the chair to ensure that complete audit report is submitted to the committee.
Mr Sheikh claimed that approval of 15 new toll plazas was given on Sept 7last year and sought a report regarding firms which won the awards. Moreover, he suggested constituting a subcommittee to look into the issue of revenue collection by NHA.
However, Secretary Communications Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said that all information sought by the committee was provided by NHA. He said if any other information was required it would also be provided to the committee.
“I want to inform the committee that NHA also holds internal audit. Send us other questions, raised by Mr Sheikh, and we will submit the reply,” he said.
However, Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi said that he wanted to file a written complaint against the NHA Chairman Jawad Rafique Malik as he did not attend the committee meeting, despite being called a number of times,” he said.
The committee took serious notice of the absence of National Highway Authority chairman and failure to provide complete information. It decided to send a letter of displeasure to the Senate chairman in this regard.
The committee chairman constituted a subcommittee with Senator Fida Mohammad as its chairman to look into the revenue related issues of National Highway Authority.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2019