Dams Bank Account
By Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
Sometime back I had floated the idea of building Kalabagh Dam on a self-help basis by raising the requisite funds through public donations. I am glad that the Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan has ordered the construction of Diameer Bhasha and Dasu Dams and also appealed to the public to donate to a bank account opened for this very purpose.
Since the amount to be contributed is likely to be substantial, its fund management could be prone to certain malpractices. Mainly it is the banks who in order to grab huge deposits offer illegal temptations such as interest rates above the normal bank rate are offered (under the table) and the profit thus accrued is deposited in another covert account of the beneficiary negotiating the deal.Setting aside of amounts in Fixed Term Deposit account(s) of various durations and the profits accruing from them are again credited to the covert account.Payments are not released in time to the contractors due to the non-availability of the funds which are deposited in Fixed Term Deposits.
This was allegedly reported to have happened while making compensation to many affectees of the Marghala Towers Islamabad that had collapsed in the earthquake. The best way to thwart away such a possibility is:To safeguard against the above mentioned malpractices by appointing a committee for selecting the bank.The account should be opened in the name of at least three judges as signatories and operated jointly by any two of them.This will raise the measure of confidence of the public who would be more inclined to contribute to the fund, and with greater confidence.
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