NAB investigating alleged anomalies in 87 uplift schemes

PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is investigating alleged irregularities in 87 development schemes worth Rs120 million carried out in some constituencies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in the Peshawar district.
Teams of the NAB conduct visits to the sites of the reported schemes on a daily basis to find out the misappropriation of funds and mismanagement, sources told The News.The sources said that 35 of the total schemes have been completed, while work on the rest was underway.
Sources in the NAB said that problems had been reported in the tendering process of the schemes. They said further anomalies were being investigated as well.
According to the sources, the chief coordination officer Mohammad Shahid Khattak had allocated various schemes of street pavement, pressure pumps and others in five constituencies of Peshawar district without issuing any tender or inviting bids.
It is necessary to advertise government scheme well before its execution and the allotment to the contractors is done after open bidding. But neither these schemes were advertised nor bidding held for the purpose, the sources said.
The schemes had been given to five PTI legislators. They include a minister, Shah Farman, two advisors Fazle Ilahi and Ishtiaq Urmar, and Members Provincial Assembly Mehmud Jan and Arbab Jahandad Khan. The sources alleged that they were given the schemes to appease them and also make some money.
Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan had taken notice of the schemes and directed the authorities to stop the work, the sources said.Later when some schemes were implemented through the Jamaat-i-Islami leaders, the project was allowed to be executed, the sources said.
Asked for comments, Inayatullah Khan said it was true that the schemes had been initiated without following the set criteria. The department has taken notice of it and has referred the case to NAB, which is investigating it, he said. Action would be taken if any anomalies were found, he added.
When his comments were sought, Shahid Khattak claimed that no irregularity had been made in execution of the schemes. “All the schemes are there on the ground. The schemes were approved in the Annual Development Programme and no lawmaker had been favoured,” he insisted.
Shahid Khattak claimed that tenders had been issued to the newspapers, but somehow these could not be published.He pointed out that 100 contractors had taken part in the bidding. He maintained that funds were not misappropriated in allotment or execution of the schemes.