Senate Committee Demands Recovery of $800 million Outstanding Amount from Etisalat

Senate Committee Demands Recovery of $800 million Outstanding Amount from Etisalat. The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Shahi Saeed, advised the incumbent government to take practical steps to certify recovery of the $800 million due from the UAE-based company, Etisalat. This amount is still pending from the privatization of PTCL in 2006.

Senate Committee Demands Recovery of $800 million Outstanding Amount from Etisalat

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The panel also pursued action against those accountable for not only privatizing a profit-making entity but also mishandling the process. That resulted in a loss of such a huge amount.

The committee witnessed that regardless of Supreme Court’s suo motu notice of the issue and interference of the NAB, the issue remains unsettled.

Answering to the matter, PTI senator Shibli Faraz said that the government must take pragmatic steps to recuperate the amount.

“Such an amount is huge for a country like Pakistan and its loss is against national interest.”

He noted.

He also indicated that NAB’s investigation report on this issue must be made public and disseminated among the committee members.

PPP senator Rehman Malik said that action must be taken against those who purposely mismanaged the issue and biased the practicality case of privatization. Privatization Commission Chairman Muhammad Zubair said that NAB has probed into the matter and the report has been sent to the Public Accounts Committee.

PC Chairman Zubair also revealed that talks are in progress with Etisalat to resolve the issue. Adding that scraping the clause, relating to deadline for the payment of the amount from the agreement, is making hurdles in the recovery of the amount. He also proposed that the committee members must meet Etisalat officials to take up the issue.