ISLAMABAD - The Chairman Public Accounts Committee Noor Alam Khan on Thursday directed all ministries and divisions to use Pakistan Post for official correspondence across the country instead of private courier services.
He was chairing a meeting of the PAC in which audit objections related to the Pakistan Post were discussed. At a point when he was informed that the government organisation was running in the losses, he directed his secretariat to write a letter to all ministries and divisions to make sure that no private service would be used by government offices in future except Pakistan Post.
Meanwhile, he also directed the Federal Secretary Ministry of Communications and the Postal Services to brief the committee in the next meeting about overall functioning and performance of Pakistan Post.
He directed the Auditor General of Pakistan to present a fresh report on a multibillion scam related to an agreement between Pakistan Post and a private bank. Meanwhile, audit paras related to the National Highway Authority have also come under discussion.
In a certain audit objection related to excess payment made to the contractors by the NHA officers, the committee was informed that the recoveries have been made from the concerned officers and requested to settle the audit objection.
However, Chairman PAC questioned what action has been taken against those who made excess payments unlawfully. The Chairman NHA Khurram Agha who is also the Secretary Communications nowadays assured the committee that he will conduct inquiry and fix the responsibility upon involved elements.
About matter related to the poor construction of the Hakla-DI Khan Motorway, the PAC sought a report in addition to getting information about accidents that happened on all national highways and motorways during the last one year.
Meanwhile, the discussion on a number of audit objections related to NHA could not be held as the Director General Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) was not present in the meeting.
Chairman PAC expressed his displeasure over his absence and directed his staff to write a letter to the Secretary Defence and direct him to appear in the next meeting along with the DG FWO. He remarked otherwise he will approach the Chief of Army Staff as they (the PAC members) were there to ensure accountability and transparency across the board.