Two top govt figures lock horns over statement to NAB

ISLAMABAD: A mega scam being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has become a bone of contention in the power corridors of capital between a powerful minister and a bureaucrat in the prime minister’s office.

A statement to the NAB by the bureaucrat telling the Bureau that the sole responsibility of giving a controversial lease of land to a private firm lies with the higher authorities of the provincial government has irked the minister, The News here on Sunday.

KP NAB since January this year, on the direction of its chairman, is investigating the matter of a 275 acres of Forest Department’s land in Malam Jabba which was given on lease of about 33 years. It involves the era when the minister was holding a top position in the KP while the bureaucrat had been serving in the province in different top administrative positions.

On October 25, the bureaucrat appeared before a NAB team investigating the mega scam in Peshawar. The sources claim he told the investigators that he had nothing to do with the leasing of land nor he was part of it however he also added that no secretary could independently give lease of any land without the approval of the authorities concerned.

“Prior to when the project was put up for bidding and Terms of Reference (ToRs) and lease period was approved in a formal meeting, I was not posted to the department concerned,” says the bureaucrat when contacted by this correspondent. “My statement has had no effect on the minister because most of the process was done before my posting,” he said.

In this regard several calls were made to the minister and a message was also dropped on his Whatsapp number but he did not answer.

On the other hand, the sources claim that the NAB investigations in Peshawar regarding the above mentioned scam has practically created a situation in the PM office where the minister and some of his fellows are at a distance with the PM’s office staff. The sources claim that the differences between two figures emerged almost three years back when both were serving the provincial government, however the Malam Jabba scam added fuel to fire. Interestingly the KP government back in 2014 decided to construct a hotel at Malam Jabba, a famous tourist spot located in district Swat. Provincial government wanted to construct the five-star hotel on 5 acres of land, under build, operate and transfer terms. As many as seven companies showed interest, and a Lahore-based company won the contract. It was alleged that certain rules were violated in the process.