Senate Body for JIT on Alleged Corruption in Islamabad Airport Project
Image Credits: Pakistan Today
ISLAMABAD, Sep 23 (APP): The Senate’s Standing Committee on Aviation Wednesday asked the authorities concerned to expeditiously implement its earlier recommendation regarding formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the alleged corruption of New Islamabad International Airport (NIIAP).
The committee meeting, chaired by Senator Mushahidullah Khan, said the process be expedited and submitted to the Prime Minister and the Federal Cabinet so that an effective probe body could be formulated on the issue.
Secretary Aviation Hassan Nasir Jamy briefed the lawmakers about ongoing inquiries, being conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) teams, into different contract packages awarded during the construction of the airport. He said Rs 94 billion in payments had been made by the Civil Aviation Authority to different companies as of June 30, 2020, out of which Rs 81.482 billion amount of ‘Different Work Packages’ was under the FIA and NAB arbitration.
The meeting also got an in-camera briefing on the report of the Women Protection Committee of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and listened to the officials concerned in a case pertaining to harassment at the workplace. Later, the PIA officials shared the details of national flag-carrier’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and its projected financial implication. They said the PIA’s total manpower strength was around 14,500 [including outsourced] against the existing aircraft-fleet of 29, which cost Rs 2.06 billion per month.
Making comparison with other airlines, the officials said the PIA had 500 employees at the ratio of per aircraft, while Qatar had 133, Emirates 231, Turkish 94 and Etihad 211. Qatar Airways is operating with 240 aircraft and 32,000 employees, the Emirates Airlines with 269 airplanes and 62,356 employees, Turkish Airlines with 329 aircraft and 31,000 workforce and Etihad Airways with 102 airplanes.
In the PIA, the officials said, the eligibility criteria for early retirement were 20 years along with all applicable benefits. However, by benchmarking the 20-year cut-off service limit, the employees who had completed 19 years of service might be deprive of the terminal benefits that are allowed on 20 years. In view of addressing the disparity, the officials said a cut-off had primarily been based on below 18 years of service and above 18 years of service and secondly, a segregation of below 18 years had been made in two classes, including employees having less than 10 years’ service and employees having more than 10 years upto 18 years of service.
They said the projected total onetime payout of VSS for 3,200 employees, including the Provident Fund stood at Rs 12.87 billion. While, annual gross salary impact for 3,200 employees was approximately Rs 4.2 billion. They clarified that it was the Voluntary Separation Scheme and the PIA management was trying to prepare attractive packages for those employees aspiring to benefit from the VSS.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Senators Faisal Javed, Nauman Wazir Khattak, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, Sherry Rehman, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Sajjad Hussain Turi and Behramand Khan Tangi, besides senior senior officers of Aviation Division and PIA.
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