Three top officials of LWMC quit after inquiry

LWMC managing director goes on ex-Pakistan leave

LAHORE: As the ongoing inquiry into allegations against the top management of Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) is about to end, three senior officers of the company have tendered their resignations.

The resignations of these top officials were sudden and unexpected, said a senior official of LWMC seeking anonymity. Those who resigned included Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Moeez-ur-Rehman, General Manager (Procurement & Contracts) Mustabshir Alam and General Manager (Operations) Tahir Majeed.

All the three officials were considered to be close aides of LWMC Managing Director Bilal Mustafa Syed, who some days back had gone on ex-Pakistan leave. Bilal Mustafa Syed is an Australian resident and following the resignations of the three top company officials, every other employee of the company is whispering that he might not come back.

As per documents available with The News, General Manager (Operations) Tahir Majeed submitted his resignation on May 26 while Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Moeez-ur-Rehman and General Manager (Procurement & Contracts) Mustabshir Alam submitted their resignations on May 31. Text of all the three resignations was almost the same as they stated that they were resigning due to professional constraints and personal reasons.

The News repeatedly tried to contact with the company spokesman to get version over the situation, but he didn’t respond till the filing of this report. However, Lord Mayor Mubashar Javed, who is the chairman of the company, said the issue will be taken up in the upcoming board meeting.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a history and appeared before the JIT which showed that everyone is accountable under the law,” he said, adding in case any of these three officials was found involved in corruption, he would be dealt with an iron hand. To a question that the LWMC MD had gone abroad, the Lord Mayor said he had sought ex-Pakistan leave from him verbally.

On the other hand, six meetings of inquiry committee were held and the committee was finalising its report, which will be submitted to the LWMC Board of Directors during the upcoming board meeting. Lord Mayor said he had already directed the LWMC BoD to finalise the inquiry.

He said BoD took up a complaint filed with the provincial ombudsman about irregularities against LWMC MD Bilal Mustafa. The ombudsman had forwarded the complaint to the local government department secretary who sent it to the BoD, he said.

The company sources said a heated debate took place among the members of BoD who expressed serious concern over the allegations. The BoD members raised several questions regarding the appointment of consultants and other irregularities mentioned in the complaint attached with the letter of secretary local government.

Some of the allegations levelled in the complaint were hiring of more than 40 employees including department heads on higher salaries in violation of rules and the process for the construction of landfill lot 3 and 4. Addressing the BoD, MD Bilal Mustafa rejected all allegations against him contending that he did not violate any rule in carrying out his duties.

Later, the BoD constituted a committee comprising Lahore Mayor, Additional Secretary Finance, Additional Secretary Local Government and Company Secretary (LWMC) to probe the matter.