Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Project Directors appointed at New Islamabad International Airport and payment made worth of more than Rs 1578 million to them have been declared illegal, it has been revealed in audit report submitted to Parliamentary Committee for perusal of Civil Aviation Authority.

Former Secretary Civil Aviation Division is likely to be questioned for appointment of ineligible persons at very sensitive posts.

New Islamabad International Airport Project was launched by Musharraf regime a decade ago but the project was hit by tales of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had already taken suo moto notice on the corruption report of the project and directed the investigation agencies to conduct a thorough probe.

Auditor General of Pakistan has also conducted physical audit of the project and has submitted its report to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by Khurshid Shah for scrutiny.

The project was started with the outlay of Rs 37 billion that has now reached to Rs 81 billion as the project was plagued with massive corruption and irregularity.

Audit report says that project director must be possessive with the qualification of B. Sc Engineering, MBA, MBBS, MPH, MA Economic or equivalent depending upon the nature of the project.

The audit observed that the authority appointed officers as project director for different tenures for project construction of the said project did not possess the prescribed qualification and experience for the post.

The Civil Aviation Authority officers allowed payment of Rs 1578 million to them is illegal act that should be investigated and the officer held responsible for this illegal act should be tried under concerned laws.

It has been stated in the report available with this scribe that payment made to these undeserved project directors was barred by ECNEC but instead acting upon the directions of ECNEC, the Secretary CAA allowed disburse this huge amount to his cronies.

The report further revealed that additional charge to any officer can only be transferred when the project would not exceed to 100 million rupees.

The authorities has been directed to take correct measure for taking back the huge sum of money paid to these undeserving officers but the concerned authority has yet to take any action.

The report said since the start of the project, nine project directors were appointed who were not possessing required qualifications.

Nine project directors who were inducted on political and nepotism ground is also violation of planning division as the posts were not advertised in the press that is necessary before filling any vacant post in government departments.