A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was held under the chairmanship of Member of National Assembly (MNA) Noor Alam Khan in Islamabad today, where members directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to seize the property and bank balance of Hascol Petroleum Limited.
The committee members reviewed the matter of outstanding debt owed by HASCOL and a public listed petroleum company. Participants noted that HASCOL is a defaulted company, while the other petroleum company has also failed to pay Rs. 44 billion to the Government of Pakistan.
After due deliberations, the committee members directed FIA to seize HASCOL’s property and bank balances.
The committee was further briefed on the matter of an amount to the tune of $3 billion lent to 600 individuals at zero interest rate by the previous government and ordered FIA to present the list of these individuals after Eid-ul-Fitr. The committee has also ordered to seize the houses, bank balances, and properties of individuals mentioned on the list.
Members brought up the subject of foreign institutions working in the local space and discussed the award of contracts worth Rs. 22.78 billion to three Chinese companies.
Audit authorities informed the committee that a contract worth Rs. 17.69 billion for a 500 KV transmission line from Suki Kinari to Neelum Jhelum was awarded to China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group (CCIEE). However, pre-conditions for nominating the company on the basis of its experience were ignored during the bidding process.
The officials further briefed that a contract worth Rs. 868 million for the Shikarpur grid station was awarded to a Chinese joint venture without following regulations, meanwhile, another contract for a World Bank-funded 220 kV grid station was awarded to the Chinese JV.
The PAC committee directed to take the matter back to the Departmental Accounts Committee for urgent facilitation and result-finding.
The PAC committee also reviewed the Audit Report 2021-22 of the Power Division and took notice of increased load-shedding across the country in the past few weeks.
On another issue, committee members expressed their displeasure at the excessive load-shedding witnessed during the Holy Month of Ramazan. The committee chairman noted that orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan regarding the load-shedding schedule for the holy month were violated.