KARACHI: The Sindh government has retrieved 149 luxury vehicles from former cabinet members and government officers and parked them in its transport pool for utilisation according to the policy of the federal government.

This was disclosed in the farewell meeting of the caretaker cabinet held under the chairmanship of caretaker Chief Minister Fazal-ur-Rahman at the CM House on Monday.

The meeting was attended by all cabinet members, Chief Secretary retired Major Azam Suleman, Sindh IG Amjid Jawaid Saleemi, P&D Chairman Mohammad Waseem, CM’s Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput, provincial secretaries and other officers concerned.

The meeting, which was called to discuss suo motu case No. 11/2018 regarding utilisation of luxury vehicles by the ministers and the officers beyond their entitlement, was informed that in pursuance of the order of the Supreme Court, the federal government in consultation with the provincial governments has evolved a strategy/standard operating procedures (SOPs) for utilisation and disposal of luxury vehicles retrieved by the ministers and senior officers.

The strategy/SOPs framed by the federal government in consultation with the provincial governments are as follows:

Chief secretary to inform Supreme Court about the step on Aug 6

a) Above 10-year-old luxury vehicles requiring major repair/maintenance may be disposed of through open auction after completing legal formalities.

b) Non-custom paid/tampered luxury vehicles irrespective of their model, make and type be handed over to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for allocation to ministries/divisions/institutions as per FBR existing rules and if required disposal of the leftover vehicles through open auction as FBR policy.

c) Luxury vehicles retrieved by the federal government are to be included in the central pool of the cabinet for protocol duties of state guests, visiting foreign delegates, Senate chairman, speaker of National Assembly, chief justice of high courts and Supreme Court, governor and chief ministers during their visit to Islamabad.

d) Vehicles confiscated by the provincial governments may be allocated with the approval of the provincial cabinet or disposed of through auction in line with procedure/mechanism formulated by the respective provincial governments.

e) The luxury vehicles retrieved by the federal/provincial governments are utilised by the federal/respective provincial governments with approval of the federal/provincial cabinets.

It was also proposed that all retrieved luxury vehicles of district administration may be placed at the disposal of the commissioners and deputy commissioners for protocol purposes and for usage on geographical/terrain considerations.

The cabinet was also informed that the bulletproof vehicles may be provided to the officials/public office holders after making proper assessments based on potential threat and security requirement through armoured vehicles’ entitlement committee.

The cabinet approved all the proposals and requested the chief secretary to submit the same in the Supreme Court on Aug 6.

General elections

The caretaker chief minister later presiding over a high-level meeting appreciated the role of all institutions concerned for conducting the elections in a peaceful atmosphere.

The meeting was attended by all cabinet members, chief secretary, Rangers DG, Sindh IGP, principal secretary to CM, additional IG Karachi, all provincial secretaries concerned, all divisional commissioners, DIGs and provincial heads of intelligence agencies.

The chief secretary said transportation of over 70,000 polling staff and meeting their requirements such as furniture, technical support and other facilities was a big challenge.

Rangers DG Major General Mohammad Saeed thanked everyone including his team for making the elections possible.

IGP Amjid Jawaid Saleemi was all praise for intelligence agencies which kept the police informed about potential threats.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2018