The National Logistics Cell is white elephant

[i am your fear]

ISLAMABAD: The National Logistics Cell (NLC), the leading public-sector freight transportation company, is turning out to be another white elephant as it has to bear an additional cost of Rs2.7 million daily on account of interest on loan of Rs4.3 billion.

NLC Director-General Maj-Gen Junaid Rehmat informed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly on Monday that the company was under tremendous financial constraints, largely because of the loans accumulated over the years.

The NLC falls under the control of planning and development division and its secretary appears before the PAC as its principal accounting officer for mandatory accounts regularisation. However, the company is managed by serving military officers.

“I admit that due to faulty decisions taken in the past the company is running into losses. The Chief of Army Staff has already directed us to close down all business ventures that fall beyond the company’s mandate,” he said during a meeting presided over by the chairman of PAC, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

The committee decided to hold a full session to discuss the company’s business ventures and its loan profile in the first week of August. “The PAC wants to understand every minute detail, from the NLC’s charter to the business ventures it has undertaken,” Chaudhry Nisar said.

“People only know that NLC is a transportation company. But every now and then you people are found to be involved in a whole range of business ventures as well,” he added.

When Zahid Hamid of PML-N asked about the inquiry into losses incurred by the company from 2003 to 2006 due to investment in the stock market, Planning and Development Secretary Ashraf Hayat said he had already submitted a report on the matter to the PAC chairman.

The PAC directorate confirmed that it had received the report. “The report is in the chairman’s office and we are yet to receive a direction from the chairman about it,” the PAC joint secretary said.

The report was submitted to Chaudhry Nisar several months ago, but he has yet to share it with other members of the committee.

Initial findings of the report suggest that five former NLC officials, including three generals, violated company rules by investing its funds into the stock market.

According to one of the audit paragraphs read out at the meeting, the NLC suffered a net loss of Rs206 million on account of a loan it gave to Japan Power General Limited (JPGL).

An audit official informed the committee that the NLC management had grossly violated the rules by sanctioning the loan which was repayable by December 31, 2007. He said the JPGL had so far not made any payment to the NLC.

The official said the NLC had a loan liability of Rs4.739 billion when the loan was sanctioned. “When we ask the NLC people about the issue, they just answer that they are pursuing the matter vigorously,” added the official.

 

[sparklingway]

The investment in the stock market when it was volatile and prohibited for state bodies to invest their revenue in it has been responsible for nearly 2bn worth losses. PAC is investigating and the fallout is expected next month. Some retired khaki heads will roll.

 

[sparklingway]

Why is PAC chief sitting on NLC scam report? ​

Billions lost in adventure by uniformed men
By Rauf Klasra

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee was told on Monday that the office of Chairman PAC Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was sitting on the inquiry report into the multibillion rupees scam in the National Logistic Cell (NLC) for the last several months.

The report contains documentary evidence to confirm involvement of four generals of the Pakistan Army in the biggest scam in the history of the NLC. But, in the absence of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from the PAC meeting for a short period of time, some members wondered why only one copy of this explosive report was given to Chaudhry Nisar.

Three Lieutenant Generals and one Major General, who were named in the report, had served at top positions in the NLC in the past and have since retired from service. The inquiry was held to determine the role of these three generals, who despite orders of the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz not to put the NLC money into the volatile stock market, invested billions of rupees in the stock exchange and subsequently lost the taxpayers money.

A large number of powerful brokers of Karachi were given huge money from the NLC funds to make investment in the volatile exchange market and subsequently billions were lost. Even these generals had taken a commercial loan to make investment in these stocks.

Managing Director National Logistic Cell (NLC) Major General Junaid made bold confessions before the PAC about the wrongdoings in the NLC in the past. He said it was true that in the past some wrong decisions were taken but he assured the PAC that he would try to undo the wrongs committed in the past.

The PAC directed the MD NLC to immediately provide the files of accounts to the Auditor General of Pakistan so that the audit of previous years, which otherwise was not being allowed by the NLC management, should be conducted and the report submitted before the PAC for scrutiny.

Earlier, during the course of the PAC proceedings it emerged that Secretary Planning Division Ashraf Hayat had deliberately given only one copy of the report to PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for “His Eyes Only”.

Ashraf Hayat, who appeared before the PAC, on Monday was asked why the report was not shared with other PAC members. He said the report had already been sent to the office of PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. But this did not satisfy the members as usually 20 copies of any report are sent to the PAC members. But what surprised them most was that the report was never put on the PAC agenda. The PAC members asked the secretary to dispatch the inquiry report to all of them.

However, one official when approached by this correspondent wondered that no one knew why the NLC scam report was not shared with all the PAC members and why it was not put on the agenda of the meeting though it was sent to the chairman PAC office several months ago.

 

[i am your fear]

how many white elephants are in Pakistan??

 

[M8R]

Hmm Public Accounts Committee is doing good work.

 

[Cheetah786]

how many white elephants are in Pakistan??

every crown corporation

 

[sparklingway]

Record shows ‘plunder’ of NLC resources​

By Khawar Ghumman
Monday, 21 Jun, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The auditor-general has pointed out several instances where situations were created to benefit people with right connections in the National Logistics Cell (NLC), without keeping in view the organisation’s financial interests.

According to official documents placed before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently, the NLC is mired in a debt of over Rs4 billion and bearing a daily loss of Rs2.7 million on account of interest.

The NLC set up an Energy Development Service Company (EDSC) in August 2007 with an authorised capital of Rs100 million. Another Rs30 million was earmarked as paid capital of the company.

To run the company, a director-general and three directors were appointed on hefty salaries. The company was to work in Thar coal, services to oil and gas companies, LPG trade and the power sector.

The company only lasted nine months and was wound up on June 30, 2008. It suffered a loss of Rs20 million on account of salaries.

When audit officials pointed out the losses, the NLC said the company could not manage huge ventures in the energy sector, it was being wrapped up.

M. Raziuddin, the chief executive officer of the company, drew Rs1 million in salary, Mustabshir Alam was paid Rs500,000, Aijaz Hussain Rs500,000, Zafar Mehmood Malik Rs245,000 and Col (retd) Maqbool Rabbani Rs62,000.

In 2007-08, an overpayment of Rs44 million was made to sub-contractors who had not completed the required construction.

The NLC sub-let construction of various sections of the Swabi Cadet College and houses at the Peshawar University to different contractors. According to the documents, all of them defaulted and did not complete the work.

The committee was informed that seven Toyota Land Cruisers (3,000cc) worth Rs10 million were imported in 2008 after getting exemption from custom duty and sales tax on the basis of a certificate that they “were imported by the central government for defence services and will be paid out of defence budget, exempted from custom duty and sales tax”.

In violation of the entitlement, the vehicles were allocated to junior officers.

In another incident of wasteful expenditure, the NLC got prepared a feasibility from the Haro Construction Services at a cost of Rs32 million to build a five star hotel and commercial building in the federal capital’s Blue Area. Later, the NLC management dropped the plan, but had to pay the charges of the feasibility report on March 3, 2008.

According to the documents, the NLC purchased two plots in 2006 and 2007 in the Blue Area for building a five-star hotel, executive towers and shopping mall in violation of its mandate of providing uninterrupted logistic facilities in the country.

The new NLC Director-General, Maj-Gen Junaid Rehmat said the organisation had started taking corrective measures by withdrawing from business ventures which did not fall under its mandate.

 

[Khalids]

Ironically, all this was being done under the nose of "the best ruler Pakistan ever had".

I Don't know when we people will come out of personality worship and start following rules & regulations. Pakistan, at present, is besieged by a mafia of mafias.

 

[graphican]

how many white elephants are in Pakistan??

Your question should be, how many institutes are not white elephant. When monies are sitting on important chairs of the country, they make their departments an animal, even if not a white-elephant every time.

 

[fatman17]

NLC was created during Gen.Zia's time for the following purposes.

1- ship cement to Iran for their bandar abbas project - it was a govt. to govt deal.
2 - during the 80's a lot of wheat was imported, and NLC was assigned the two-fold task of shipping wheat to the strategic wheat depots within pakistan and also feeding the huge afghan refugee populations at then time of the afghan war.

3 - ship arms and ammo to ISI's ojheri camp / and their two forward bases / warehouses at peshawar and quetta for onward supply to the jihad.

4- - NLC has now lost its mandate.

 

[faisaljaffery]

how many white elephants are in Pakistan??

Quite less then those which are in India. Now you count ur selves and let us know about white elephents of India