News
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Senate body wants recovery of dues owed to PTV
* Tariq Azeem says defaulters’ names will be published
ISLAMABAD: A sub-committee of the Senate on Saturday expressed its resentment over the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) management’s inability to recover an outstanding amount of Rs 1.047 billion under the head of advertisement bills. The sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting also decided to publish the names of “big fish who have been using their clout and political affiliations to delay the payment of the public money”. The sub-committee, which met at Parliament House with Tariq Azeem Khan in chair, asked the senior management of the state-run TV channel to expedite its efforts to recover all long-outstanding dues in line with the recommendations and guidelines given by the committee. The committee members said the PTV management had to recover Rs 1.047 billion in outstanding payments as of June 30, 2008. Of Rs 1.047 billion, they said, Rs 290 million were pending for more than five years. “The outstanding amount is public money that needs to be recovered,” the committee members said, dismissing a plea by the PTV management that the “big fish having tremendous clout are to be blamed for all unpaid money”. The committee expressed concern that the people and organisations, which had defaulted on dues in the past, were again involved in the same business under a different name.The committee members also took a serious exception to the fact that despite its earlier recommendations, the appointment of the credit controller by the corporation had not been made so far. Meanwhile, they added, the management was seeking Rs 200 million from private banks against high interest rates to maintain the channel’s working capital. Azeem told Daily Times that the PTV administration would give the names of all “big fish” to the Senate committee on Monday, which would soon be published in the media. “We will name and shame these people,” he said. staff report
Courtesy Daily Times