Another BoD member resigns, two more likely to quit

PESHAWAR: Another member of the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) has resigned.

Two other BoD members have also intimated to quit on multiple grounds including “lack of transparency” in decisions of the Board and affairs of the company.

Apparently in a bid to cope with the situation in the wake of the frequent resignations, particularly in the final year of the five-year rule of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition government, it has been decided to reconstitute the BoD with less number of members.

Sources told The News on Saturday that Asad Saifullah Khan, scion of the well-known Saifullah family, resigned as member of the BoD of the KPEZDMC. They said that Asad Saifullah had already sent his resignation to the BoD Chairman Ghulam Dastagir.

The KPEZDMC is a public sector company established by the PTI with the aim to initiate economic development and industrialisation in the province.The company is governed through a 21-member BoD with 75 percent representation from the private sector. The remaining 25 percent of its members come from the public sector.

However, the company was bedevilled by a host of problems in the presence of the multiple bodies providing similar services. These bodies included the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade (KPBOIT), the Chief Minister Investment Cell and the defunct Sarhad Development Authority (SDA).

The company’s latest trouble began with the resignation of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, Mohsin Syed, who was hired to develop the industrial sector in the province on the lines of Punjab.

Mohsin Syed, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau some months ago on corruption charges and then released, tendered his resignation on July 12 and the BoD accepted it in its August 7 meeting. However, he was allowed to work for two months until his replacement.

Fuad Ishaq, another important BoD member, also resigned on April 5 and stopped taking part in the BoD activities.The sources said that office of Asad Saifullah, who was also member of the audit committee of the BoD, received a phone call on Saturday from audit committee chief Haji Iftikhar who invited him to the meeting of the committee scheduled for August 29.

However, the committee chief was informed that Asad Saifullah had resigned and had sent his resignation to the BoD chairman. He was also told that Asad Saifullah would no longer be part of the audit committee or the BoD.

The sources said that two other members of the BoD Sikandar Kuli Khan and Zafarullah Khan Marwat are also about to quit. The sources said this would be a setback for the BoD and KPEZDMC.

When contacted, the BoD chairman Ghulam Dastagir dispelled the impression that the BoD would collpase after the resignation of any member.He said though he had not received resignation of any member, all those mentioned were no more members of the BoD as they failed to attend more than three consecutive meetings.

He said “Asad was a good resource,” but he couldn’t spare time due to his busy schedule to attend the meetings of the BoD. He maintained that being a lawyer Asad Saifullah was given the important slot of chairman legal committee.

Ghulam Dastagir said that each and every bit of thing was carried out in a possible transparent fashion and the members, “who are leaving on the pretext of lack of transparency never ever came up with any complaint or proposal about bringing any transparency in the board affairs.”

The Board chairman added that they were going to reconstitute the BoD cutting it down to 11 or 13 members.“The decision to reconstitute the BoD has been taken because none of its meeting over the last two years was attended by more than 13 members. Only those seriously inclined to contribute and work for the economic development of the province would stay on,” he said.