QUETTA: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly expressed serious concern over financial irregularities worth billions of rupees in key provincial departments, including the Quetta Safe City Project, the Prisons Department, and the Information Department.
The meeting, chaired by PAC Chairman Asghar Ali Tareen, reviewed audit reports and compliance issues. Committee members Wali Mohammad Noorzai, Ghulam Dastagir Badini, Mohammad Khan Lehri, Safia Bibi, and Ayaz Mandokhail attended, along with senior officials from the audit, prisons, and information departments.
Tareen said the Quetta Safe City Project showed severe mismanagement and poor planning, noting that 600 of the 800 installed cameras are nonfunctional despite Rs9 billion spent. He said the project failed to deliver public safety and was a “clear example of inefficiency and misuse of funds.”
Audit officials revealed that the contract worth Rs2.28 billion was illegally awarded to the Special Communications Organization (SCO) instead of the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), which had scored higher in financial and technical evaluation — a direct violation of the Balochistan Public Procurement Rules 2014.
The committee ordered the Chief Secretary to complete an inquiry within one month or face referral of the case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It also directed recovery of Rs230 million in illegal advance payments within 15 days.
Regarding the Prisons Department, the PAC expressed anger over Rs11.3 million in reported losses and demanded a report within a week. Tareen urged authorities to improve clean water, medical, and rehabilitation facilities in prisons, and to bring prison staff allowances on par with other departments.
On the Information Department, the committee criticised tax deductions worth Rs56.5 million missing from Rs424.7 million in advertisements issued between 2018 and 2021. Tareen called the spending “unjustifiable for a financially weak province” and ordered immediate tax recovery and closure of unauthorized bank accounts.
Concluding the meeting, Tareen said the PAC remains committed to promoting transparency, accountability, and financial discipline in Balochistan. “Violations of rules will not be tolerated,” he said, directing all departments to ensure compliance within set deadlines.
