Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) is among those federal institutions that cause millions of loss because of corruption & irregularities. Open any annual report from auditor general of Pakistan and you will find ERRA.
In 2016 Audit General Report it was highlighted that ERRA failed to intimidate Rs. 978.450 million rupees as the closing balance in the financial statements which was a violation of Financial Rules. Similarly a fictitious payment of Rs. 127.5 was made to a contractor for which action was not taken to recover the amount.
ERRA also failed to submit & deposit Rs. 278.6 million rupees which were deducted during 2012-13 & 2015-15 as Income Tax on some projects but even after years the amount was not deposited causing loss to Government Treasury.
another PMLn Fed Org ERRA 10 Billion corruption #???_??_????_???_??? pic.twitter.com/1D1d3bhLmq
— Mujtaba Sharf (@MujtabaSharf) July 30, 2016
Exemption of Zakat on regular incomes & Benefit Pension Accounts to ERRA was also found unjust and doubtful by Auditor General who recommended investigation for the matter which involved Rs. 65 billion.
This was not the first that Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) raised questions and doubts on the financial statements, payments and assets of ERRA. Previously a parliamentary committee revealed that Rs. 1.4 billion was paid to contractors who failed to complete their projects. Complete payments for incomplete projects indicate corruption which needed investigation, recovery and action against those involved but government failed to perform its task.
And that’s because of #ERRA corruption. Ask @ImranKhanPTI what he did for them? https://t.co/GwtkUh74yy
— Amara Shah (@ShahAmara_) October 8, 2016
Similarly in 2010 Rs. 956 million were paid to 10 contractors which was against the rules. When the issue was highlighted an investigation was started but even after 7 years no official was held responsible and no action was taken against any government employee.
The corruption started from the inception of the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) from 2008. There is not a single financial year in which the accounts were reconciled with reports of Auditor General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR). In 2008-09 there was an unreconciled amount of Rs. 1.234 Billion which increased to Rs. 14.71 billion in 2011-12.
ERRA was established after the devastating earthquake of 2005 to rehabilitate the affected people, reconstruct & rebuild the cities & towns destroyed.