Massive irregularities detected in Gwadar water projects
QUETTA: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly has detected massive financial irregularities while reviewing the audit findings related to the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department and key infrastructure projects.
Chairman Asghar Ali Tareen, while presiding over the PAC meeting, uncovered unaccounted expenditures, violations of procurement laws, and delayed mega projects.
The meeting was attended by committee members engineers Zamrak Khan Achakzai, Zabid Ali Reki, Ghulam Dostgir Badini, Fazal Qadir Mandokhail, PHE Secretary Imran Gichki, DG Audit Balochistan Shuja Ali, Additional Accountant General Hafiz Noorul Haq, PAC Additional Secretary Siraj Lahri, Director Audit Dr Faiz Muhammad Jaffar, and Chief Accounts Officer Syed Idris. Opposition Leader Younis Aziz Zehri and Maulana Hidayatur Rahman were invited as special guests.
During the meeting, the DG audit presented a special audit report conducted in November 2022 covering the financial years from 2018 to 2021 for the PHE department, Gwadar.
The report revealed that the department incurred expenses exceeding Rs5.9 billion, however, significant amounts remained unaccounted for in official records, raising serious transparency concerns.
Audit shows over Rs5.9bn in unaccounted-for expenses between 2018 and 2021
It further disclosed that no income tax deductions were made on payments totaling nearly Rs240m, which were disbursed without legal deductions.
Work worth approximately Rs4.9bn was awarded to various companies without tenders, violating procurement laws. The audit also pointed to irregularities worth over Rs380m in schemes for water supply during drought conditions.
Irregularities were also found in the procurement of fuel, oil, lubricants, and repair materials. The executive engineer in Gwadar made multi-crore purchases from different companies without proper documentation, leading the committee to classify these expenditures as suspicious.
The members of the committee expressed strong reservations and demanded inquiry proceedings against responsible officers for failing to provide complete records.
Mr Tareen emphasised in his address that safeguarding public funds is a top priority and warned that anyone found misusing national resources would not be spared. He assured that while an opportunity for explanation would be given, strict action would follow if irregularities were confirmed.
Maulana Hidayatur Rahman, speaking on the occasion, criticised the Gwadar water project expenditures, stating billions had been spent but honest utilisation could have ensured water availability from Singapore by ship.
In his remarks, Fazal Qadir Mandokhail suggested referring the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), though other members advocated for full fact-finding before the chairman exercises his authority.
The meeting also reviewed the audit report of the Mangi Dam project, which was due to be completed in June 2022 but faced extraordinary delays and a 42 per cent cost overrun. The initial estimated cost of Rs7bn has now crossed to over Rs18bn. The audit attributed these issues to consultant inefficiency and poor planning, with key aspects ignored in the initial PC-1 document and recurring revision needs.
The DG audit reported that the department had not yet submitted any progress report on the project, drawing strong condemnation from the committee. PAC Chairman Tareen described this as an example of extreme institutional failure, pointing out that despite such a major project, public still live without access to clean drinking water.
He announced plans to personally visit the Mangi Dam site with committee members for on-ground assessment.
The project director informed the meeting that completion was possible by December 2025 if the required funds were released promptly. Mr Tareen decided to write to the Balochistan chief secretary to expedite fund release and warned of another special audit if the project fails to complete on time.
Further disclosures included that over 1.43 million litres of diesel were used to supply water to Gwadar, with fuel distributed to tankers without proper record keeping or storage details in logbooks, violating procurement rules.
The chairman stated that the committee would not only expose financial corruption but also initiate strict legal action to restore public trust in Balochistan’s governance.
Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025