KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly on Monday unearthed massive financial irregularities in the audit of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) and suspended its director finance for the payment of Rs667 million to 500 bogus pensioners.

During the examination of the audit paragraphs of the KDA by the PAC meeting, chaired by its Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, massive financial irregularities and embezzlements were found in the Rs2.21 billion funds released to the retired employees and widows of the deceased ones of the development authority.

Held at the Committee Room of the Sindh Assembly, the meeting was attended by committee member Taha Ahmed, KDA Secretary Arshad Khan and the director generals of the Lyari Development Authority and Hyderabad Development Authority, among others.

When asked by the PAC chairman about the me chanism for paying monthly pension to the retired employees, the KDA secretary said the bank concerned paid the pension amount and carried out biometric verification after every six months.

Saying that as many as 500 bogus pen-sioners had been found in the KDA and their pension was stopped, he wondered how the bank continued payments to the bogus pensioners for so long when their biometric verification was held after every six months. `This act of fraud in the pension funds will not be tolerated under any circumstances,` he said and referred the matter to the Federal Investigation Agency for an investigation.

It was also revealed in the meeting that instead of auctioning the parking plaza contract, the KDA gave it to its additional director for only Rs1.5 million per month.

The PAC expressed grave concern over not auctioning the parking plaza contract and ordered the additional chief secretary of the local government to investigate the matter.

The PAC also directed the KDA director general to collect Rs200 million in rent and electricity bills from the owners of KDA shops, offices, housing schemes and flats, and submit a report.

LDA`s housing project at a standstill It was also revealed in the meeting that the Lyari Development Authority (LDA) had not carried out any development work in Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Township Scheme, which was started after 2008 to provide plots for housing to the poor with a funding of Rs9.42 billion.

Scheduled to be completed in 2016 under the LDA, it has not been completed yet. Since 2008, the LDA has not carried out any uplift work, including drainage and roads, in the scheme and, therefore, not a single house has been constructed in the housing scheme.

LDA DG Safdar Ali told the PAC that out of the 42,000 plots in the townshipscheme, 27,500 had been balloted and the development work remained to be carried out still.

The PAC ordered the Chief Minister`s Inspection Team to investigate the issue of lack of the development work in the housing project.

It was also disclosed in the meeting that the LDA had caused damage to the government exchequer by not collecting Rs2.27 billion as fees for issuing noobjection certificates (NOCs) and layout plans to 85 different societies.

The PAC chairman asked the authorities how the documents were issued to those societies that had not paid the full fees for NOCs and layout plans.

The LDA DG told the PAC that out of Rs2.27 billion, Rs663 million had been recovered as NOC fees and the NOCs of the 26 societies that did not pay the fees had been canceled.

The PAC sought a detailed report from the DG.

Outstanding dues of Wasa The PAC also took up the issue of Rs6.14 billion dues of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) outstanding against several institutions, including Site Limited Hyderabad and housing societies.

The Wasa managing director told the PAC that site limited and other institutions had been written letter for the recovery ofthe dues.

The PAC chairman said that if the site limited had not paid water dues to Wasa, why it was being supplied water.

The meeting sought details of all the institutions that had not paid their water dues to Wasa and summoned officials of the agency, Site Limited Hyderabad and other relevant institutions in the next meeting.