ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday snubbed the Managing Director (MD) of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) over a major oil spill incident involving 1.19 million litres of High-Speed Diesel (HSD), worth millions of rupees.
The MD failed to satisfy the committee with his explanation regarding the incident.
The committee meeting, chaired by Junaid Akbar Khan, took up the matter based on an application submitted by Jamshed Dasti and deemed the incident a case of gross negligence.
The Secretary of the Petroleum Division, while expressing ignorance about the incident, also labeled it a serious oversight. He recommended the formation of an independent multi-stakeholder committee to investigate further, including the possibility of criminal activity such as theft.
Briefing the committee, the PSO MD stated that the incident occurred on August 23, 2024, at JIMCO during the receipt of HSD from PAPCO. After successfully filling Tank 803, the operation was shifted to Tank 818. However, the valve of Tank 803 remained open, causing it to overflow during the Friday prayer break. Upon discovering the issue, pumping from PAPCO was immediately stopped and recovery efforts were initiated using available resources. The total volume spilled was 1,190,967 litres. As of August 2024, 167,313 litres had been recovered.
He further informed the committee that an internal inquiry had been conducted, resulting in disciplinary action against five employees, including terminations. A sum of Rs. 41 million was recovered, and the General Manager of Operations was demoted and removed from the department. PSO’s share of the loss stood at Rs. 187.9 million.
However, the committee rejected the PSO report, raising concerns about the criteria used for the environmental audit. They questioned whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been consulted. Ministry and PSO officials failed to respond satisfactorily. Consequently, the committee referred the matter to a sub-committee for further investigation. Ends
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