There has been progress on the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate allocation of 140 plots scam, estimated to be worth Rs.75 crores, or Rs.0.75 billion. The chief secretary of Sindh, Dr Mutawakkil Kazi, on May 29, issued a notification setting up a committee comprising the following officers of the Sindh government: the additional chief secretary of the home department (Anwar Haider, chairman), the secretary SGA&CD (Mumtazur Rahman), member, land use, board of revenue (Riaz Khan), and the secretary, IT department (Yayha Waliullah).

The terms of reference of the committee: "1) To enquire into the methodology/procedure of allotment of 140 industries plots at SITE Superhighway Phase-I and II, Karachi, to ensure the transparency of the allotment. 2) The committee may co-opt any other member, if required. 3) The committee is to submit its recommendations within seven days to the chief secretary."

A video cassette recording of the balloting ceremony of May 11 at the offices of SITE, showing the "dignitaries of the day" (DD) of Sindh and of Pakistan making their run-of-the-mill speeches has been sent to the committee members.

One remarkable point when hearing the DDs speak is the number of times each has uttered the words "transparent" and "transparency". Resumes, translated into English, of the various speeches make interesting reading.

First out of the stalls was the managing director of SITE, Gul Mohammad Rind, who welcomed those who had "spared their precious time":

"I would first of all like to thank you for being here and for having spared some of your precious time...SITE has now been able to provide 139 vacant plots, each admeasuring 0.5 acres, at Super Highway, Phase-I and II, and the provincial minister for industry, Mr Adil Siddiqui, and the board of governors of SITE have decided to distribute these plots to prospective industrialists by calling for open applications.

"We have received 5,000 applications for the plots, and this response from the people is evidence of the confidence they repose in your able leadership of the present government of Sindh. In view of this great response, the board of directors decided to allot the plots through a balloting procedure - but not one set up by SITE itself. We contacted three banks, Muslim Commercial Bank, Habib Bank, and the National Bank of Pakistan. The National Bank of Pakistan acceded to our request and we provided them with the list of applicants. Today, the National Bank of Pakistan will undertake the balloting and will distribute plots to those wishing to invest in industry.

"The receipt of 5,000 applications is also indicative of the confidence the people repose in SITE and I am thankful to the chairman, Mr Sheikhani, and to the members of the board for their untiring efforts over the past month to make this whole process transparent."

Sindh provincial minister for industries, Adil Siddiqui, was next to rise to the occasion: "I am glad that the people of Sindh have reposed their confidence in us [MQM] by applying in such a large number for the few available plots. This shows there has been an improvement in the law and order situation in our province for which credit must go to the MQM government. I will be brief and will now request Mr Sheikhani, chairman of the SITE Association, to speak to you."

This he did: "The original land available with SITE was approximately 50 acres on which a technology park was to be built. However, this could not be done. This land was later converted into industrial plots and the board of directors of SITE decided to allot these plots to prospective industrialists. Our provincial minister for industry took a very keen interest in this process. He is responsible for having recovered some 35 acres of land which had been encroached upon, and we are duly thankful to him. The organization is working as a team, and the team has been very successful.

"The board of directors prepared the terms of reference as to how to conduct the process and how to undertake the balloting procedure which must be completely transparent. In the interests of transparency, the National Bank of Pakistan prepared the balloting software and I think it is the NBP which will conduct the actual balloting. However, there is no doubt that the process is completely transparent."

Next came federal minister for communications Babar Ghori (why did he "spare his precious time?"): "I am very happy to learn about this balloting of industrial plots. I returned from China last night after delivering the bodies of the Chinese engineers, who were recently killed in Gwadar. However, when I was asked by Mr Adil Siddiqui to attend this balloting function, I accepted in the interests of the betterment of our province and its industrialization. Our aim is to industrialize our country...we must build Pakistan, a better country, and a better industrialized Sindh. We must become high-tech, and competitive in all respects, otherwise we will be left behind. Certain elements are not happy with the developments in the country.

"SITE Limited had only 139 plots to distribute and it was decided to allot these plots by calling for open applications and through a transparent balloting procedure..."

Finally, the governor of Sindh, Dr Isharatul Ibad, addressed the gathered industrialists, investors, officials, general public and hopeful balloteers: "First of all I apologize for being late and for making you wait for so long. I wish to congratulate SITE and the minister of industries for this wonderful job. Industrial plots are to be allotted for the setting up of industries. A few months ago, SITE and the minister for industries approached me in this regard and informed me that a certain portion of the concerned land was in dispute. After much effort, the SITE team managed to recover this land and it has been divided into 139 plots for which, I am happy to say, 5,000 applications have been received. This illustrates the confidence reposed by the people in the Sindh government. It shows that the law and order situation has improved, that the environment for industrialization is conducive, and that people are interested in investing...

"The whole balloting process is transparent and transparency will be strictly followed. SITE is setting a very good example and I would request all departments and organizations to following such processes which are open and transparent...I know that SITE's previous budget was some two to 2.5 crore rupees which within the past two years has now increased to Rs. 87 crores. This is excellent progress and it is due to the present government and its policies. Through industrialization and an improved economic situation, employment and exports will increase and we will soon see much development in the province."

SITE MD Gul Mohammad Rind clearly stated that the National Bank of Pakistan would that day undertake the balloting, knowing fully well that the bank's men would not be allowed to enter the computer balloting booth. SITE chairman Sheikhani was more circumspect and said that he thought that NBP would conduct the balloting. Did he know or not know that the NBP men would be kept out of the balloting booth?

Further developments were conveyed to the members of the committee in letters I addressed to them on June 2 and 3. The Karachi Institute of Information Technology (KIIT) ran the NBP computer programme and the authenticated results were sent to the committee on June 2: "The actual results of recent SITE balloting as provided to KIIT are not evenly distributed: there are many chunks of numbers that are consecutive. It is almost impossible to get such results by using a proper random number generator. Since the test conducted by us on the National Bank balloting software confirmed that it also produced evenly distributed numbers. Therefore we have no hesitation in saying that the National Bank software that we tested could not have produced the SITE ballot results as provided to us."

Luckily, an IT scientist, Yahya Waliullah, is a member of the committee and he can test-run the NBP programme and verify what has been authenticated by KIIT. Should the committee members not ask why the NBP computer men were led by SITE secretary Saqib Soomro to SESSI and not to the SITE offices for a demonstration on the morning of May 11 (the only common factor being minister Adil Siddiqui)? Should they not ask why the NBP was not allowed to carry out the balloting procedure on the evening of May 11, and who it was that actually operated the computer and drew out the predetermined results (he is visible in the film)?

Knowing the DDs, who is surprised?