The first case of excess payment to the tune of Rs 37.904 million due to double measurement was noticed in the office of the Executive Engineer, Provincial Building (Construction) Division-II, Peshawar in which an excess payment of Rs 37.903 million was made to M/S Sabz Ali Khan contractor for excess quantity of mild steel reinforcement in comparison to RCC in the scheme construction of two hostels and allied facilities for students of KGMC Peshawar.
The length of the steel bars in each column and beam was shown double in the relevant MB resulted in the excess payment.
It was held that the excess payment occurred due to negligence on the part of the management and the matter was reported to the department in January 2014, but no reply was furnished.
The Departmental Account Committee (DAC) in its meeting held in September 2014 and the department replied that steel was used as per actual design. The DAC directed the department to produce record for verification with 15 days, but till finalization of the audit report no progress was intimated to the AGP, which recommend the implementation of the decision taken in the DAC.
The second excess payment of Rs 10.651 million was also noticed in the Executive Engineer, Provincial Building (Construction) Division-II, Peshawar, which excess made to M/S Ahmadullah Khan and Co on account of excess quantity of mild steel reinforcement in comparison with RCC in the scheme, "Construction of Central Library with allied office in Civil Secretariat." In each column and beam, the length of steel bar was shown double in the relevant MB which resulted in excess payment.
The matter was reported to the department, but no reply was furnished and in the DAC meeting the department was directed to produce record for verification within two weeks, but it failed to present the required record. The audit has recommended conducting inquiry into the matter to recover the amount.
Similarly, a huge excess payment of Rs 74.564 million during the FY 2012-13 was detected in the office of the Director General (DG) Provincial Housing Authority, Peshawar, which paid excess amount to contractor M/S Kasteer and on verification of the record it was observed that the contractor was allowed excess quantity of steel for RCC work in the construction of flats and houses at Civil Quarters Peshawar than permissible quantity as required under the rules, which resulted into excess payment of Rs 74.564 million.
Furthermore, the detailed measurement of the use of the steel was neither carried out by the engineering staff of the local office nor reference of the MB and page number, where the entries have been recorded, which could be mentioned on the body of the bill thereby means that no measurement of the use of steel was done. Moreover, TS has also not been accorded by the competent authority.
It was held that excess payment was allowed due to mismanagement and under favour and the audit held that the irregularity occurred due to weak financial and internal control.
The matter was reported in January 2014 while DAC in its meeting held in October 2014 directed for verification of record, but no record in support of excess payment produced till finalization of the audit report. The audit has recommended investigation into the matter to fix responsibility.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017