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| Billions of rupees being spent on purchase of VIP ’copters |
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Friday, January 30, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: While the poor and needy are dying for basic necessities like flour, the government is lavishly spending billions of rupees of the taxpayers’ money on bringing prohibitively-expensive travel comforts to VIPs.
Documentary evidence reveals the Frontier government has purchased a Rs 500 million VIP chopper for the NWFP governor while the federal government is in the process of buying five helicopters.
The copters the federal government is purchasing include two for VIPs, costing the public exchequer at least Rs 5.3 billion. Three of the five helicopters will be used for emergency services, including relief and rescue work.
But former secretary Cabinet Division Ghiasuddin, when contacted by The News, explained the order for the five helicopters had been placed prior to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s takeover.
Only in recent years, in addition to two VIP business jets costing billions, a fleet of more than 40 bullet-proof limousines was bought for over Rs 3 billion for bigwigs. Key government functionaries, including top defence officials and spymasters, followed suit and secured highly-expensive bullet-proof limousines. According to a document of the NWFP Administration Department, a helicopter for Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani has been purchased from Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant for 4,829,992 euros (Rs 500 million). Duties were to be paid on the purchase of this VIP chopper but the governor succeeded in getting an exemption certificate from the Federal Board of Revenue.
Arbab Arif, secretary to the governor, was not available on his official number. An Administration Department source, however, informed this correspondent the government was in dire need of the chopper because the governor did not have one for his exclusive use.
At the federal level, following the chief executive’s order, the Cabinet Division has struck a deal with the Italian AgustaWestland Company for the procurement of five helicopters worth US$67.47 million (Rs 5.3 billion) excluding duties/taxes. Two of these twin-engine AW139 choppers are meant and designed for VIPs whereas the remaining three will be used in emergencies for rescue and relief operations.
An official, while defending the extravagant purchase, argued the government had only one operational Bell 412 twin-engine helicopter for VIPs. Another is under repair. In view of this situation, he believed, it was deemed fit to buy two new choppers for the president and the prime minister. The government will start receiving the choppers in April this year.
Only a couple of years back, the government had bought two high-priced VIP business jets, including an Airbus, for the prime minister and the president in compliance with ex-premier Shaukat Aziz’s orders.
A 12-seater Gulfstream — a more exclusive but smaller business jet — was purchased for $28 million. Under the agreement, this executive jet was to be returned to the manufacturer for $22 million after two years when the company would deliver Pakistan a new version for $33 million. The money involved in the other VIP business Airbus deal is, however, not known.
All such spending was made beyond the budgetary allocation, as was the case of the controversial purchase of over 40 bullet-proof Mercedes vehicles for VIPs, costing the public exchequer over Rs 3 billion.
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the first prime minister under Gen (retd) Musharraf, also wanted a VIP plane to be exclusively used for his foreign trips, but the idea did not translate into reality because of the government’s realisation that it was too costly a business to get into. But Aziz did it.
Before Aziz, an option was discussed to get back from the Pakistan International Airlines the Boeing-737, originally purchased for the country’s chief executive. But here too the government could not proceed because the proposal, when it appeared in newspapers, generated controversy, forcing the regime to stay quiet.
The brand new Boeing-737 was purchased by the PIA management under orders of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992 for VVIP flights. At that time, the price of the plane was said to be around $28 million, for which a loan was obtained. The plane’s configuration was changed to accommodate VIP passengers. The aircraft was used by erstwhile prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
After the October 12, 1999 military takeover, General Pervez Musharraf initially preferred to travel on routine flights but later started using chartered planes for foreign tours.
The present rulers, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, generally use commercial flights for foreign trips. As explained by the former secretary Cabinet Division, the VIP choppers were ordered before the induction of the PPP government. But the present rulers did not find it appropriate to spare the two VIP helicopters for emergency relief operations.
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