PM orders third-party audits for projects over Rs2bn

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered third-party validation for all development projects exceeding Rs2 billion, aiming to ensure more transparency and efficiency in the government spending.

The premier’s directive came during a review meeting on the Electronic Procurement, e-Pak Acquisition and Disposal System (e-PADS) held at the Prime Minister’s House on Saturday. He directed the authorities concerned to ensure third party validation to make grievances and concerns redress system effective in relation to the procurement process. He ordered for carrying out amendments to the rules and regulations in this regard. He said the government was taking measures to introduce transparent procedures for all types of government purchases.

The prime minister expressed anger over delays in implementation of the project and also showed concerns over its quality. He ordered to complete the project within a month.

In the meeting, the prime minister was also briefed on e-procurement. He was told that the e-procurement project was launched by Public Procurement Regulatory Authority in 2017 with the World Bank funding worth US$45 million. He was informed that e-procurement had been implemented in 37 ministries and 301 procuring agencies of the federal government. The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) had so far trained some 8,988 officials of procuring agencies.

The premier was told that the federal government’s e-procurement volume was about Rs1,551 billion. Memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have also been signed with the governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regarding e-procurement, the meeting was informed.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Economic Affairs Division Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, PM’s Coordinator Rana Ihsan Afzal and other relevant officials.

APP adds: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday urged the international community to take immediate action on the recent UN report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), highlighting forced displacement of Palestinians and food insecurity among children.

The report serves as fresh evidence of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians, with the UN revealing that not a single day passes without the bloodshed of innocent Palestinians.

The report also notes that Israeli forces are targeting Palestinian children, with a clear intent to eradicate the Palestinian population, the prime minister said.

It has been 322 days since the genocide of Palestinians began, PM Shehbaz said adding that the forced evacuation of 250,000 Palestinians from their homes in August was a challenge to international institutions, international conscience and international law.

Furthermore, he highlighted that the pace of Israeli oppression could be gauged from the unjust eviction of 146 Palestinians from their homes in just two days. “The report of the United Nations agency confirms that on the one hand, the genocide of Palestinians with deadly weapons continues and, on the other hand, hunger is being used as a weapon.”

The prime minister said only one per cent of children in Northern Gaza while six per cent of children in the southern part of the city were getting food. Israel has accelerated the massacre of common Palestinians by pouring fire and explosives from the air, land and sea, he said.

“If the Israeli state, which commits crimes against humanity, is not brought to justice, the international institutions themselves will be standing in the dock,” the PM said. The prime minister highlighted that the reports of international organisations were a serious indictment against Israel, the murderers of humanity should be punished and the oppressed should be protected. He reaffirmed his commitment that Pakistan would speed up the delivery of food to Palestinians, especially children.