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ISLAMABAD:
The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs met on Thursday and reviewed delays and financial discrepancies in development projects linked to Multan, including the utilization of an Italian grant worth Rs 850 million.
The meeting was chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro.
At the outset, Senator Abro expressed displeasure over the absence of the Federal Communications Secretary.
Officials from the Ministry of Communications informed the committee that the secretary was in Multan for the inauguration ceremony of the M-5 highway section.
The chairman also reprimanded officers of the Sindh government and criticized them for calling the secretary late in the evening to confirm the meeting details despite the schedule being mentioned in the committee’s notification.
Later, the Sindh government representative apologized.
“Do these clever tricks in your own province,” Saifullah Abro said, adding, “this is the Center and such behavior will not be tolerated here”.
The meeting then turned to the status of development funds for Multan.
Officials from Multan informed the committee that the Italian government had converted a $200 million loan into a grant in 2010 to support the social sector.
They said Italy had earmarked Rs850 million for preservation of historical buildings in the city. More PC-1s were approved under the PPP government, but no progress was made after 2015, the committee was told.
The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) claimed that Rs170 million had been paid to the Italian consultant, while Rs250 million had been spent on various projects, the official from Multan said.
Disputing these figures, he said that not more than Rs50 million appeared to have been spent, adding that the EAD had yet to account for Rs450 million.
EAD officials said the project was initially drawn up by the Culture Ministry and later handed over to the Housing Ministry before being transferred to the Punjab government.
Senator Abro questioned how a federal project could be moved to the provincial government without formal approval and why a 20 per cent consultancy fee had been paid.
National Highway Authority officials said they pay 2-2.5 percent consulting fee.
The Punjab official said the consultancy fee was fixed in the feasibility study.
Senator Waqar Mehdi pressed the EAD to clarify the fate of the remaining funds.
EAD officials stated that Rs430 million was later diverted to Benazir’s income support programme.
Mehdi said the Punjab government claimed that the money had been allocated to Nishtar Hospital.
“Who is telling the truth?” Senator Mehdi asked. “How can the funds from one project be transferred to another without approval?”
