The inquiry commission’s report on the petroleum shortage in June 2020 has brought into light some damning revelations regarding the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Division (MoEPD), Oil Marketing Companies and officials concerned, and Director Generals (Oil), including the current DG (Oil).
Regarding the MoEPD in particular, the commission’s report wrote that the ministry “has not fared much better during the last decade and in the June crisis in particular.” It said that the behavior of the ministry has been “rife with apathy, incompetence flavored with malpractices, and disregard to laws and rules.”
However, unlike the report recommending disbandment of OGRA, here for the MoEPD, the commission has recommended that the ministry’s division be further empowered to take the matters into its own hands with a consolidated approach. The report said, “The dire straits of the oil industry can only be straightened out with a unified authority.”
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It has also been recommended that MoEPD starts working with the Law Ministry to draft new rules within the next six months and get them passed by the cabinet. To work out all mechanics of checking mechanisms, enforcement, and strength of the ministry, the division may also be allowed 6 to 12 months, the commission recommended.
The report highlights the necessity of a strong ministry. However, it has not spared the rod on the current head of the oil division. The commission “strongly recommends departmental or penal action against the incumbent DG Oil for passing flagrantly illegal orders regarding the allocation of import and local quotas.”
This recommendation, however, should not come as a surprise to anyone, considering that the current DG Oil is Dr. Shafi-ur-Rehman Afridi, who is a grade-20 officer of the Office Management Group (OMG) and has no previous experience whatsoever related to the position.
Additionally, Imran Ali Abro, the de facto “Kingpin in the Petroleum Division” and the official who “calls the shots on behalf of his superiors,” is also mentioned in the inquiry commission’s report, along with other associates. The commission highlighted that Abro’s position in the division for the last six years has been without any legal ground and has recommended penal action against him along with other officials too.
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The indifference and incompetence, of the MoEPD Secretary, has not been ignored by the commission either and departmental reprimand for him is also on the cards in the commission’s recommendations.
Officials belonging to the Department of Explosives (working under MoEPD) have also been found guilty of issuance of unlawful forms to retail outlets and storage deposits, and thereby they have also been called out as deserving of “strict action.”
