ISLAMABAD: The Pub­­lic Accounts Commi­ttee on Tuesday ordered audit of the Toshakhana to determine losses to the national exchequer after dignitaries retained presents given by foreign governments instead of depositing them into the vault of gifts.

“We also demand the go­vernment to recover hu­n­d­red per cent payment from affluent dignitaries — politicians, judges and gen­erals, who kept foreign gifts,” the chairman of Pub­lic Accounts Commi­ttee (PAC), MNA Noor Alam Khan, said.

Mr Khan directed the office of Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to make the findings public.

The office of the AGP responded that a team had already been constituted and audit of the Tosha­khana would begin from Wednesday.

The Public Accounts Committee met to review the audit paras of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, 2021-22.

The PAC found irregularities worth billions rupees in the audit paras of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Karachi Dock Labour Board, and Pakistan National Shipping Corporation. Some of the most blatant violations included unverified revenue receipt by Traffic and Finance Department of Rs45 billion.

The AGP said that the KPT did not have a mechanism to maintain detailed and proper record of all containers and non-containerised cargo.

Similarly, the audit pointed out unjustified payment on account of bonuses amounting to Rs6.2bn to KPT officers/officials despite continuous losses to the authority.

“The KPT paid an amount of Rs6.2bn on account of bonuses for the last 10 years on the occasion of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha,” the audit para said.

Expressing surprise, the PAC directed the secretary of Ministry of Maritime Affairs Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda to stop bonuses at the rate of four basic pays to 4,000-plus employees immediately and limit allowances to once a year based on profit.

The committee was informed that the KPT revenues had continuously declined over the years.

Failure to recover outstanding rent from property outside the port area under the KPT worth Rs4.1bn, discrepancies in expenditures amounting to Rs3.6bn, illegal occupation of KPT land and outstanding dues against oil companies worth Rs3.2bn were some of other alleged irregularities brought into the notice of the PAC.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2023