Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Turning down the plea of the Water and Power Ministry, the Privatisation Commission has refused to reimburse Rs 5.5 billion to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), pushing the matter into the court of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for adjudication, classified documents available with Daily Times reveal.

According to the documents, the privatisation commission incorporated the Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO) in 1996 and earned a huge amount from its privatisation. WAPDA was left with only 18.27 percent shares, which were disposed of in 2006 by the then government to meet the budget deficit. This sale of WAPDA’s shares yielded Rs 5,435.56 million, which – according to law – should have been remitted to the Ministry of Water and Power.

However, after almost a decade, financial issues have triggered tensions between the two government organisations over the reimbursement amount, and both sides have agreed to decide this dispute at the PAC platform.

The WAPDA general manager (finance) had repeatedly written to the Privatisation Commission for reimbursing the amount to its “real owner”, but the commission – without giving any reason – flatly refused to pay the amount back, a source revealed.

Had the said amount been remitted to WAPDA, it could have saved million of rupees that were paid in terms of interest on the amount borrowed for developing hydroelectric power projects, said another WAPDA official privy to the matter. The WAPDA chairman had also drawn the attention of the Power Ministry to this issue, but the “spineless ministry” showed no interest in recovering this huge amount, jeopardising the hydroelectric power projects initiated in the country to overcome the shortage of water and power, the senior officer said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media on this issue.

Meanwhile, the source said that the mafia sitting in the Privatisation Commission had deposited more than Rs 9 billion in different commercial banks, while mark-up on this amount was being “mishandled”.

Another classified document revealed that WAPDA’s land worth more than Rs 10.65 billion has been encroached upon by the land mafia in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), while the authorities have failed to recover this asset.

The said land, measuring 4,248 kanals, is spreading near Mangla Dam, which has now been occupied by the local mafia with the connivance of the AJK government. The Water and Power Ministry already knows about this issue, but it has not taken up the matter with the AJK government to date.

According to the document, WAPDA owned more than 80,000 acres scattered in AJK and Punjab near the Mangla Dam.

It said that the local people and the Mirpur Development Authority had occupied the said piece of land and established their residential units over it.

The encroachers are unwilling to pay for the land. On top of it, they moved the court against the government and got restraining orders.