PIA must introduce accountability, says PAC

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 Printer Friendly Version


PIA must introduce accountability, says PAC

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday observed that a lack of accountability in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the management’s inability to take action against officials responsible for irregularities was the main reason behind the poor financial situation of the national flag carrier.

“The PIA is in crisis because of the lack of an accountability culture and management’s inaction against corrupt officials,” said Malik Allah Yar Khan, the PAC chairman, at a committee meeting here on Wednesday.

The PIA administration had failed to implement recommendations made by audit officials during the last three years, he added.

Earlier, Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (r) Tariq Waseem Ghazi admitted before the committee that PIA was in serious financial trouble. “However, PIA Chairman Tariq Kirmani is confident that he can reverse the situation and has given presentations to the president and prime minister about his plans,” he added. The president and prime minister had approved the PIA chairman’s plans, but at the same time had directed the Defence Ministry to keep a close eye on developments in PIA, he said. Ghazi also admitted that PIA officials did not take audit objections seriously because they usually concerned past issues. “I think the only way to improve the situation is to forget about the past issues and come to the present issues so that action can be taken against current officials involved in irregularities and corruption,” he suggested.

But the chairman rejected this. “We must try to recover as much of the money as we can through your good offices pursuing the old cases,” Khan said.

The PAC also ordered the recovery of money and disciplinary action against officials involved in irregularities and negligence at foreign stations like Jeddah, London and New York, as highlighted by the audit objections. The defence secretary and PIA chairman said this would be difficult as most of these officials had retired or been transferred years ago. The committee rejected the excuse.

PAC member Qamaruz Zaman Kaira questioned the management of the PIA chairman and whether he was worth his salary. Referring to an audit objection where a PIA manager had not responded to management’s request for recovery of money despite the passage of three years, Kiara said this spoke volumes of the “effectiveness of the system and control of management”. Kirmani tried to respond, but Kaira stopped him, saying the question was addressed to the secretary. Kaira also asked the secretary if it was true that Kirmani was getting more than Rs 1 million a month.

Ghazi said he would provide the details, but only in confidence. Kirmani later clarified that his monthly salary was much less than that, and he had not withdrawn his salary in advance.

The PIA chairman will brief the committee in detail today on PIA’s monthly losses.

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