Rs1.822b irregularities detected in Multan Metro Bus project

MULTAN: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Multan has detected Rs1.822 billion financial irregularities in the Multan Metro Bus project. NAB Multan has completed initial investigation against the chief engineer and others and sent its report to Islamabad. According to the report, Executive Engineer Amanat Ali and another official, Riaz, inflicted Rs1.04 billion losses on the national exchequer by making additional payments to the construction companies. The report revealed that former chief engineer Multan Metro Bus Project Sabir Saddozai caused losses of Rs702.1 million to the kitty. He made changes in the PC-I of the project in violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules and divided the plan in eight packages. He benefited the contractors and made purchases from open market on exorbitant rates. The report revealed that Metro Bus Project Executive Engineer Multan Development Authority Amanat Ali and Riaz Hussain misused their authority, made additional payments to the construction companies and caused Rs1.04 billion to the country. They also violated PPRA rules by imposing no fine on the companies which did not complete their work on time. The arrested MDA officials SDO Manam Saeed, Rana Waseem and Manzoor Ahmad were responsible for Rs80 million illegal payments for the woodwork related purchases. Currently, six accused including chief engineer Sabir Saddozai are in the custody of NAB on physical remand.