PAC okays NHA ‘gifting’ Rs22.150m trees

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Tuesday gave a clean chit to National Highway Authority (NHA) for giving Rs22.150 million worth of tree to the people affected by Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road and rehabilitation and widening of Coastal Highway project on the ground that this gesture was helpful to complete the project despite the bad law and order situation due to killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006.
A meeting of the PAC, chaired by Syed Khursheed Shah, made this decision. Audit paras related to Ministry of Communication for the fiscal year 2010-011 were examined in the meeting. The PAC also stopped NHA from payment of house rent ceiling to the employees of National Highways and Motorways Police till further order following the objection of the AGP that NHA was unauthorised to make these payments and recovery of Rs55.230 million.
While examining the audit pars of gifted trees worth Rs22.150 million, the audit officials told the PAC that the directors of Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road and rehabilitation and widening of Coastal Highway projects paid Rs22.24 million to the contractors on account of removal of trees.
Rs17.95 million worth of trees fell in Widening and Improvement of National Highway (N25) project and Rs4.235 in Rehabilitation of Costal Highway Gharo-Ketti Bandar (N-10) project. Neither the inventory showing details of trees was prepared nor the cut trees were retrieved for disposal/auction as per rules, which resulted in misappropriation of trees and un-authentic payment of Rs22.150 million.
The department replied that former chairman NHA gifted the trees to the people affected by the projects as a goodwill gesture. Chairman NHA Shahid Tarar admitted before the PAC that his predecessor crossed the line taking this decision yet it was taken in extra-ordinary situation as at that time Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed and law and order situation was deteriorating.
“The project was completely shut down at that time and as a goodwill gesture more than 7000 trees were gifted to the effected people so that work should not be hampered due to bad law and order situation, he added.
The committee members agreed with the NHA chairman and settle the para due to extra ordinary situation of that time in Balochistan. It directed the NHA to verify the inventory showing detail of each tree to the audit department.
Examining the unauthorised payment of house rent ceiling and recovery of Rs55.230 million, the audit officials told the committee that it was observed that the National Highways & Motorways Police N-5 North Office of Deputy Inspector General, Quetta and Karachi, who were not residing at prescribed stations, drew house rent ceiling instead of house rent allowance during the financial year 2008-09 and 2009-10 and the total payment on this count comes to Rs55.23 million; thus, audit considers this payment as inadmissible under the rules.
The NHA told the committee that the employees submitted writ petitions to Sindh High Court, Sukkur Branch, which on October 24, 2010 set aside the ministry’s order dated July 6, 2010 and thereafter the ministry went to the Supreme Court on March 7, 2013 which dismissed its request.
The audit was of the opinion that the lapse in accessing the SC was on the part of the ministry whereas the ministry was of the view that nothing could be dome under these circumstances. The PAC summoned the finance secretary and ex-secretary communications to deliberate upon this matter but at the same time directed to stop the payment of house rent ceiling till the final decision.
The PAC also sought the legal opinion from the Law Ministry on the issue of house rent ceiling. The issue of loss of revenue of Rs46.83 million due to short receipt of toll collection come under the radar of the PAC as the audit department told the committee that NHA has awarded 10 contracts of toll plazas for toll collection and the receipt on account of toll collection during the year 2009-10 were Rs1.55 billion against the reserved price/baseline of Rs2.014 billion indicating a shortfall of Rs462.83 million.
Chairman NHA Shahid Tarar did not agree with the objection of audit department and said that this year NHA earned Rs5 billion more than last year. The audit officials told the committee that NHA accepted a bid beyond permissible limits of under-pass at Wah and sustained a loss of Rs785.97 million.
The audit officials told the committee that NHA got approved PC-1 of the project “construction of 4-lane under pass at Wah Gate no 1 Taxila-Hasanabdal section” from Central Development Working Party in November 2007 for a total cost of Rs491.58 million including construction cost of Rs416.59 million.
They told the committee that the bidders submitted their bids and the bid cost of Rs758.97 million was the lowest, which was 82.18 percent above the PC-1 cost. The audit department was of the opinion that the non-adherence to the instructions of the Planning Division resulted in an irregular and unauthorised acceptance of bids at higher rate of Rs758.97 million.
Khursheed Shah took strong exception and observed that either it shows the weakness of the Planning Division of the NHA or its planning department did not have the capability and officials seems to formulate the PC-1 while sitting in the officials without visiting the site.
The audit department told the committee NHA sustained a loss of Rs493.27 million due to irregular award of works without calling tenders for Under Rawalpindi Urban development projects.
Replying to the audit department, the NHA took the plea that work was awarded to M/s NLC because all the land was taken from the army and all the army offices i.e Signals, GHQ, Military Hospital, Central Ordnance Depot and other army houses were within this vicinity so it was impossible for private contractors to do this job in this area.
PAC member Abdul Manan observed that why the “emperor of that time” did not realise that rules have to be followed as the NHA was not allowed to opt for the tendering and the politicians were kept in jails. Khursheed Shah said there was no fault of the NHA as no one including Chairman of the NHA of that time has courage to stand against rules violation.