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Politicians protect corrupt customs staff
By Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana Though most of the customs officers belong to influential families having political affiliations with one party or the other but presently those having direct relationships with federal or provincial ministers enjoy full protection for their wrongdoings. - APP/File photo KARACHI: Customs officials having political links are freely using this clout to their advantage and causing huge revenue loss to the national exchequer, customs insiders told Dawn. Though most of the customs officers belong to influential families having political affiliations with one party or the other but presently those having direct relationship with federal or provincial ministers are enjoying full protection for their wrongdoings, they added. Therefore, collectorate of customs appraisement, which carries out full examination of imported goods before letting them move out of port area, has suffered huge revenue loss during first ten months (July to April) of current fiscal. According to official figures the appraisement collectorate during July-April period collected Rs23.327 billion as against Rs27.174 billion in the corresponding period last year. ‘These relatives of influential persons are having a field day in customs because even their superiors could not touch them and risk their job,’ sources said. There are instances where some courageous customs high officials took to task such corrupt elements but ultimately they have to pay the price because in most cases, such officials were transferred or posted to other places. Citing a recent incident wherein the Appraisement Intelligence Branch (AIB), on information provided by additional collector of Model Customs Collectorate (MCC), detected mis-declaration of size in colour TV sets imported from the UAE. The consignment was examined and its report stating goods as per the GD, was endorsed by the appraiser and was countersigned by principal appraiser at East Wharf, customs sources said. This caused a huge revenue loss. In another case the Directorate of Intelligence, while chasing some containers, found that the seals of two boxes were not opened for examination. The boxes belonged to a petroleum drilling company, which had been mis-declaring its imports as drilling equipments and instruments but actually their containers were mostly loaded with miscellaneous goods, which were available in large quantities in Gul Plaza, sources said. Those customs officials, who collaborated in mis-declaration of TV sets, were never apprehended even after the high officials got the proof against them from the AIB. However, as an eye wash these officers along with others were placed off-duty through an office order. They are: Pir Muazzam ul Haq (principal appraiser), Saleem Yousuf (principal appraiser), Shafqat Abbas Gondal (appraiser), Shabir Abbas Bukhari (appraiser), Syed Azam Shah (appraiser), Abdul Ghani Soomro (examiner), Asif Shah (examiner), Naseem Khan (examiner) and Mushtaq Ahmed (examiner). DAWN: Saturday, 23 May, 2009
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