- The grant agreement was signed on September 16, 2022.
- Amounts were intended for the purchase of goods for flood victims.
- Utilization of funds for other purposes unjustified.
Islamabad: With Pakistan continues to face adverse consequences of climate change, it has been revealed that grants of $ 3 million received from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 2022 Floods for Pakistan were redirected to rehabilitation of earthquake sacrifice for Turkiye and Syria, The news reported Wednesday.
The disclosure was submitted under a public accounting committee (PAC) meeting, chairman of Junaid Akbar Khan, as the body examined the audit parases in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Communications for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The audit briefing revealed that RS552,599 million grants for the purchase of items for the flood victims were redirected against the rehabilitation of victims of Turkiye and Syria.
The $ 3 million subsidy agreement was signed on September 16, 2022 for emergency preparedness against the flood 2022 in Pakistan. NDMA acquired winter and blankets out of the ADB grant in the financial year 2022-23 for the flooded affected people in Pakistan.
However, NDMA’s audit for the financial year 2022-23 revealed that it was observed that in violation of the provisions of the grant agreement and the stated purposes, the winter tents and blankets acquired from the ADB subsidy to the flood victims in Pakistan were sent to the above two countries.
The grant was specifically intended for the delivery of life -preserving services to the communities affected by Monsoon Flood 2022; Therefore, the exploitation of the subsidy for other purposes was unjustified and deprived the flooding victims.
The management replied that the emergency aids (tents, blankets) acquired from the ADB grant had to be redirected to the earthquake population of Turkiye, Syria due to the very tight timeline of emergency relief surgery given by the Prime Minister and had also been repaid, re-rejected.
In a DAC dated February 26, 2025, it was assessed to DAC that NDMA sent emergency aids to catastrophic affected areas, people on PM’s directives, so there was no question about unauthorized issuance of flooding items. The committee has sought a report on this question within a month.
