SHC orders audit of oil firms’ funds for welfare schemes in 21 districts

The Sindh High Court has directed the auditor general of the province to conduct a complete audit with the cooperation of the director general petroleum concession of the funds provided by petroleum and exploration companies for social welfare schemes in 21 districts of the province.

The direction was issued on a petition with regard to the lack of provision of welfare funds to the people of oil and gas exploration areas. The court directed the auditor general to audit the funds and establish how much money each district received each year, its utilisation and if any funds had been improperly used or could not be accounted for.

The director general petroleum concession filed comments with regard to details of the funds issued to the Sindh government for the social welfare schemes by the petroleum and exploration companies. The court was informed that the ministry of petroleum had provided $16.3 million for the social welfare fund, $17.9 million for the production bonus and $1.8 million for marine research from the exploration and production companies under their contracts since 2013.

The court directed the ministry of petroleum to file district-wise allocations of funds from 2013 to date at next hearing. The court was informed that the funds had been paid to the respective districts directly through their bank accounts so that the districts may utilise the same once the committee was appointed for the selection of public welfare projects.

The court took exception to the compliance report submitted by the chief secretary and observed that prima facie it appeared that the directions contained in the order of the Supreme Court had been attempted to be complied with in a haphazard and ineffective manner whereby the funds had not been effectively utilised for the local community.

The court expressed dissatisfaction over the chief secretary’s report and observed that no assistance was provided by the government with regard to utilisation of funds. The court was informed by the focal person to the CS that the secretary energy had been asked to appear before the court and answer court queries with regard to the implementation of its directives but he did not appear and sought further time to file the reports.

Taking notice of non-compliance with the SC directives, the court directed the chief secretary to appear before the court and explain non-compliance with the court orders and as to why further proceedings for violating the court orders should not be taken against him.

The high court directed the CS to submit a list of all previous CSs from 2013 to date along with their tenures. It observed that most of the funds were utilised without advertising the projects and taking local people’s input about which projects were of great need to them.

The court observed that none of the 21 districts had a chairman of the committee on social development since July 2018 which showed complete lack of interest on the part of the government in utilising such funds for the benefits of the local people and paying any heed to the directions of the SC.

It observed that guidelines issued by the government with regard to the utilisation of funds had not been followed and the monitoring system put in place appeared to be on paper and ineffective.

The court observed that despite the issuance of funds to each district the amounts did not appear to be reflected in the DCO’s bank accounts for the purpose of social welfare. It directed the auditor general to conduct an audit of the funds provided by the oil companies from 2013 for social welfare projects and the betterment of area people near the oil and gas exploration sites.

It directed the chief secretary to ensure that the chairman of each district committee and all its members be appointed within five days and each committee issue advertisement for proposals about the potential and needed community projects.

The court directed the chief secretary to appoint a focal person of not less than 20 grade to monitor and ensure that directions issued by the Supreme Court as well as the guidelines issued by the government were implemented in letter and spirit.