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No objection to probe by any institution, Asif tells Senate

Nandipur power project

By our correspondents
October 08, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday said in the Senate that the government had no objection to investigations into the Nandipur Power Project by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or any other institution.
Replying to a calling attention notice in the Senate, the minister said the matter could be taken up in the Senate Standing Committee of Water and Power or at any other forum and the government had no objection to it.
Asif strongly rejected what he called speculations about the expenditures and the tariff of the project. He said the PC-1 of the Nandipur project costing Rs59 billion was okayed by the PPP government in January 2013 and was approved by the Ecnec in June same year.
The Nandipur project again led to a strong verbal bout in the Senate on Wednesday between Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Muhammad Asif and Leader of the Opposition (PPP Senator) Aitzaz Ahsan who insisted the matter should be referred to the National Accountability Bureau for a thorough probe.
Senator Aitzaz alleged four persons including the Punjab chief minister, the federal minister, the minister of state for water and power and a prime minister’s adviser were responsible. “Everybody in the government wants to patronise projects but when questions of transparency are raised, they look the other way,” he charged.
The peaceful atmosphere between the ruling PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party in the House appeared to have vanished after the recent NAB and Rangers’ actions in Sindh and surfacing of controversial power-related projects, including the Nandipur project and solar park, besides the metro bus project.
Federal Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif alleged the call by Aitzaz for a NAB inquiry into the project was due to the LPG quota given to his spouse from which two ex-chairmen NAB also benefited.
The minister maintained that power plants could be shut down and reopened on priority basis and there was nothing unusual about it.
A furious Aitzaz rose to clarify that by the year 2000, LPG had been deregulated and the use of term quota was totally incorrect, as private parties purchased LPG and marketed it. He vehemently rejected that LPG quota was given to his spouse and that he had benefited from ex-president Musharraf’s regime, saying he played a key role in a movement against the military ruler, who was the army chief as well as the president. The senator wondered why the Senate Chairman, Mian Raza Rabbani, did not expunge an adjective used against him by the minister. The chair promptly expunged the term. Aitzaz noted that the chief minister had announced an award for a horticulturist who was made the head of the Nandipur project, whereas other employees were given bonuses for its early completion.
He called the project a glaring case of mega corruption and kickbacks which was being made a technical issue, whereas it was a case of corruption. He rejected the audit of the project by Ferguson in order to whitewash the issue as the rulers had whitewashed the attack on the Supreme Court. Aitzaz said when the government had no answer to the questions being asked, it resorted to levelling charges.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Mohsin Aziz and Sassui Palijo of PPP called the project a story of incompetence, misappropriation and non-transparency, which needed to be probed and that further investment must be stopped forthwith.
To a call attention moved by Sehar Kamran of PPP about the growing India-US defence relations, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said, “We should not be worried over the defence ties of India with Washington.” He said there was a need for maintaining balance in the strategic and defence capabilities of both Pakistan and India and this fact had also been accepted by the United States.
The adviser pointed out that Pakistan was also exploring other markets to meet its defence needs including purchase of helicopters from Russia. He said Pakistan was alive to the issue of arms build-up by India.
Speaking on a motion moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, Minister of State for Religious Affairs Pir Aminul Hasnat assured the House that the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee would be given the constitutional and legal cover. He lauded the committee’s services in enabling the four provinces to celebrate Eid on the same day except for a tiny area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Senate Chairman, Raza Rabbani, asked the government to present the draft legislation on the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee before the National Assembly or the Senate by November 15. He said, otherwise, the Senate committee would furnish its recommendations in consultations with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Senator Babar harshly criticised the committee for what he called creating further divisions in Pakistan on important occasions of Ramazan and Eidul Fitr. He said the body had no business to continue and sow seeds of divisions in the society. He pointed out that once chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa invited the committee to do moon-sighting there, but the committee refused to do so saying that it could do its job better in Karachi.
Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-Functional called on the government to address the issue of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and regulate it through legislation. “It is unfortunate that while the world has made advancements and other Muslim nations also did research but we still rely on eye-witnesses on moon-sighting. There is a need to see what methodology other Muslim countries adopt,” he noted.
Rabbani regretted that the private airlines were exploiting the situation caused by the standoff between the PIA and PALPA by charging extra fares. He said the Competition Commission of Pakistan should look into the matter. Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said that efforts were being made that passengers did not suffer due to the crisis.
He said the CCP had contacted the private airlines administrations and conveyed to them that action would be taken in case of overcharging.
The House admitted for discussion an adjournment motion on the route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. Senator Taj Haider and others moved the motion.