THIS is with reference to the article ‘Another scam in the making’ (Feb 5). The International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) is internationally recognised as the UNESCO Centre of Excellence, and its faculty members have won more civil awards and international prizes than any other academic centre in Pakistan in addition to a number of honorary doctorate degrees from foreign universities.

The centre was established to promote high-quality postgraduate education and research, and not for drug development. Its graduates have risen to top positions in academia and industry. The accounts of ICCBS are regularly audited and we have always received clean reports. Further, I have had no administrative or financial responsibilities with the centre since 2002.

Not a single new building was ever built and the projects of foreign universities were not implemented in 2008 because there was a change of government. As regards the Pak-Austria Institute of Applied Sciences and Engineering, it is not a polytechnic, but a high-quality hybrid research university with a ‘Fachhochschule’ section and a postgraduate university section; the only university in Pakistan with 100 per cent PhD-level faculty.

Calling the Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technologies a scam without any evidence is incorrect, especially when not a single penny has yet been spent on the project. The present PM House buildings are not included in the project, and the university, when functional, will have its entrance from the Bari Imam side.

And, finally, the matter of Pelletron nuclear accelerator, purchased 25 years ago by the National Centre of Physics, might as well be confirmed by Dr Samar Mubarakmand, who was heading the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), that full use of the facility was made.

Not a single project in which I have been involved has ever failed and not a single rupee of public money has ever been wasted. Regarding the quality of my contributions, the highest honours conferred on me from a number of countries and international institutions and forums of repute speak for themselves.

Prof Atta-ur-Rahman
Chairman, PM’s National Task Force on Science and Technology
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2022