The government told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that there was no chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPC) Authority at the moment as members of the National Assembly had questioned the legitimacy of the non-functioning agency and its top management. Was challenged.
After an interesting discussion and a break to seek clarification from senior officials of the Ministry of Planning and Development, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives passed the Pak-China Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill 2020. Postponed to next meeting.
When the bill was debated during the standing committee meeting, National Assembly member Syed Agha Rafiullah asked who is the chairman of the C-PEC Authority. Planning and Development Secretary Mathur Niaz Rana replied, "None."
The secretary said he was only contacting because the C-PEC Ordinance had expired on May 31, 2020.
Aghaz Rafiullah expressed surprise and said that when this ordinance was repealed months ago, under what law are they working, he asked if we are dummy? What kind of law are we making?
Member National Assembly Imran Khattak asked the officials of the Ministry of Planning to tell the committee who is currently the chairman of the pack authority. The answer was no.
When National Assembly member Naveed Dero asked officials to clarify who the current chairman of the authority was, there was no change in the official response.
Agha Rafiullah demanded that the Ministry of Planning issue a written explanation that there is no chairman of the C-PEC Authority and also explain how it was functioning when the ordinance expired.
Junaid Akbar, chairman of the committee, asked if there was no chairman of the C-PEC Authority at the moment, what was the responsibility of the current chairman and whether he was receiving salary and other benefits.
Several members of the committee also asked whether any memorandum of understanding had been signed by the C-PEC Authority after the ordinance expired in May this year.
The chairman of the committee said he would suspend the proceedings for five minutes and asked the secretary for planning and development to seek guidance from the government on the issue.
Secretary Mathur Rana returned shortly after and said that Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar could not be reached as he was attending a cabinet meeting but C-PEC Authority officials confirmed that no memorandum of understanding had been signed. They are not getting any benefits after the expiration of the ordinance.
The committee was not satisfied with this reply and wanted a clear and written explanation to be issued and kept on record.
The Secretary assured the Committee that he would take up the matter with the Minister and brief him on the directions of the Panel.
During the discussion, Secretary Rana informed the committee that under the proposed bill, the post of Chief Executive Officer of C-PEC Authority was being abolished and it would be headed by Chairman C-PEC.
He said that the Chairman would be appointed in the proposed bill and would report to the Prime Minister through the concerned division.
In response to questions, the panel was informed that the steps taken by the top management of the C-PEC Authority in good faith were in line with the steps taken by other similar authorities but the members praised the 'good faith'. Expressed reservations.
The planning secretary said that at the direction of the committee, he had spoken to C-PEC officials and reported their response in "good faith".
It was pointed out that the previous ordinance on the same subject had been withdrawn by the government and therefore an urgent bill was introduced.
The National Assembly said in a written statement that the committee was asked under what law the authority was operating when the ordinance was withdrawn.
The Secretary Planning and Development assured the committee that at the next meeting, he would state the status of the Chairman of the C-PEC Authority and the law under which he was performing his duties.
The members requested for some time to study the bill and decide on it. The committee unanimously decided to postpone the bill till its next meeting.
The meeting was attended by Sher Akbar Khan, Saleh Mohammad, Syed Faizul Hassan, Nawab Sher, Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshk, Imran Khattak, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Sardar Mohammad Irfan Dogar, Naveed Dero, Syed Agha Rafiullah and Abdul Shakoor. Of
