Audit uncovers Rs1.57bln irregularities in KP Sports, Tourism department

PESHAWAR: The Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year 2020-21 has revealed financial irregularities exceeding Rs1.57 billion in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports and Tourism Department.

According to the report, the Tourism Corporation failed to provide records for Rs394.3 million allocated to eight projects.

Similarly, Rs620 million released to the Tourism Authority for developmental projects was not spent within the stipulated time.

The audit further highlighted irregularities worth Rs465 million in various auctions conducted by the Tourism Authority. Despite being advertised, 28 properties of the Tourism Authority could not be leased out during 2020-21.

The report also noted that 4,169 kanals of land in Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan, and Swabi have not been demarcated despite several years having passed.

In addition, tourism equipment worth over Rs30 million remained unused.

The government incurred a loss of Rs88.6 million due to failure to collect profits on Rs270 million funds for several months during 2020-21, the report added.

Read more: JUI-F to launch public campaign against KP govt’s ‘corruption’

In May, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) decided to launch a public campaign against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government across the province to address what it called ‘corruption, mismanagement, deteriorating law and order’.

The JUI-F Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held its working committee in Peshawar with Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in attendance.

The meeting demanded accountability for those ‘involved’ in malpractices in many Khyber Pakhtunkhwa uplift projects.

“The Kohistan scandal, BRT project, Malam Jabba controversy, and the Billion Trees project corruption are among the projects saw billions of rupees corruption,” the JUI-F maintained.