Reko Dek project: NAB files reference against 26 officials of Balochistan govt

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Balochistan, with the approval of NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, has filed a reference against 26 officials of the Balochistan government in the Reko Dek project for causing a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.

According to details, the reference was filed in Accountability Court Quetta after years of hard work and evidence collection by teams led by DG NAB Operation and DG NAB Balochistan. The accused have been involved in the abuse of authority and violation of rules and inflicting billions of rupee losses to the national exchequer for personal interests. The reference has been filed after scrutiny of 30 years and on the basis of concrete evidence.

The accountability court has issued notices to the accused persons as per law. Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture agreement was signed in 1993 between the Balochistan Development Authority and Australian company Broken Hill Proprietary.

The BDA caused illegal benefits to Australian companies. Mining rules were illegally amended to strengthen the terms of the agreement. Balochistan Mining Concession Rules were illegally amended to strengthen the terms of this agreement, which was against national interest, by repeatedly entering into illegal sub-agreements and introducing a new company called Tethyan Copper Company (TCC).

Serious irregularities were committed by officials of the revenue department in the allotment of land and other matters. The accused confessed to taking financial benefits. The records and statements of witnesses had revealed that the TCC operatives were found to be involved in bribing government employees and illegally gaining benefits. Due to these corrupt elements, the Reko Diq project, which was supposed to earn billions of rupees for the province, could not yield the desired financial results.

During the investigation spanning years, various government departments were scrutinised. Overseas suspects were repeatedly summoned for questioning.

The accused sitting abroad were summoned several times to record their statement. The NAB team led by DG NAB Operation, DG NAB, Balochistan has resolved the most ticklish and huge corruption white-collar crimes and filed a reference against 26 persons of government Balochistan after approval of Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal and law will take its course.

Courtesy: Daily Times