ISLAMABAD - Without considering relevant experience, company’s law and its policy in recent major reshuffles at OGDCL, blue-eyed appointments have been made ostensibly to ensure the purchase of two new rigs through a favourite firm, which had failed to fulfil any commitment with the company.
“Making mockery of merit and rule of law, blue-eyed appointments and reshuffles have been made at OGDCL ostensibly to ensure the purchase of proposed two rigs through a favourite firm allegedly involved in the supply of expired chemicals, spare parts etc.”, sources revealed on Thursday, adding that blatant violations of prescribed rules and regulations have so far been committed by the management of OGDCL in its recent desperate bid to benefit the blue-eyed staff and to sabotage the inquiry initiated against the influential firm allegedly involved in supply of expired chemicals.
Sources in Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd while talking to this scribe said that serving top guns of OGDCL backed by an influential lobby allegedly involved in providing expired chemicals worth in millions are all set to purchase new rigs worth in multi-billion rupees from a blue eyed firm in a bid to benefit the favourites through appointments and creating new lucrative slots for them. They told that high ups of the company have also assigned the responsibility of procurement of rigs to the newly created post of Acting General Manger (AGM) only to benefit the blue-eyed officials and the favourite firm as well. Similarly, Zia ud Din (Manger Drilling Fluids) though don not have engineering degree till this effect has also been benefited by appointing him on a newly created slot of AGM (Drilling Well Services) ostensibly to sabotage the continuing inquiry against the provision of expired chemicals to the company initiated against the said blue eyed firm in 2010 and which is now at concluding stage. Sheer violation of prescribed rules, regulations and bi laws of the OGDCL have been committed so far in this sudden adventure of creating all new lucrative slots in the company, sources said, adding it is height of non professionalism that non technical and non-trained staff of the company will run the affairs of technical jobs.
It was also learnt that influential lobby at the company is leaving no stone unturned to get declared the efficiently working two rigs named F-125 (Rumanian rig) and Russian rig named 307 (Russian ex-USSR) as out of order which are currently not only effectively working but are also capable to utilize them more five to ten years in the better interest of the company and the nation as well. Currently, the cost of one rig is approximately $20-30 million.
In order to ensure benefit for the said lobby, incumbent management has introduced unique measures by replacing the technical, trained crew with a non-technical team. Drilling Department of the company is the easy target of the influential lobby this time as those officials are appointed here now who don’t have even one-day experience of the field job, sources added.
Available official documents confirmed the bifurcation of drilling department with the approval of incumbent MD of the company on 27th December, 2011 through a letter No.CE-347/2011 with a subject Bifurcation of Drilling Department. Resultantly, two new sections within Drilling Department named as Drilling Operations Department and Drilling Services Department have been created and Muhammad Iqbal Sheikh has been posted as AGM Drilling Operations while setting aside the experience of technical staff in drilling operation services.
Documents further revealed that M Siddiq Hassan Manager (Local Procurement) has been transferred to OGTI and Khalid Anis has been posted as Manger (Local Procurement), Ayaz-un-Nabi Manager (Logistics) has also been transferred to the post of Manger (Rig Maintenance) and Khalid Pervaiz Manger (Rig Maintenance) has been transferred to Drilling Operation Dept while Ismail Laghari Chief Engineer (Logistics) has been assigned the task of Acting Manger (Logistics).