Inquiry ordered into Sargodha trust scam

SARGODHA: An Anti-Corruption Department additional director ordered an inquiry into the Sargodha Improvement Trust on Saturday.

Police arrested the trust accountant for questioning and he revealed that Sub-Divisional Officer Malik Ghulam Jaffer had allegedly misappropriated around Rs 30.5 million. The money was to be paid to daily wagers. It is said that the trust chairman and secretary do not work full-time for the trust and do not take interest in development schemes launched by the trust, even though they are highly paid. Work on the Model Town Residential Housing Scheme, which was launched in 1988 on Lahore-Sargodha Road, was abandoned after some time due to lack of interest of the authorities. However, an outgoing deputy commissioner deposited over Rs 20.2 million for a gas supply to the scheme.

Yet no progress was made on the project even after the introduction of the local government system. Now people who have paid for the land but still do not have ownership deeds have asked the Punjab governor to appoint a full-time chairman, a secretary and an accountant to save the residential scheme from collapse. staff report

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