Saturday September 14, 2013
Herat (BNA) Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, Minister of Information and Culture in a news conference considered accusations of misusing one million dollars of South Asia Foundation as absurd and imprudent.
Dr. Raheen said, “This is not the first plot by specific figures.
In past, there were also rumors related to few people trafficking of 50 artifacts, which was fortunately proved untruth, adding during the past eleven years of work and service, we should not wait that all are consented of me and expelled from the ministry accused us.
Providing documents for money spent for a culture center, Dr. Raheen said SAFF had promised of cooperation for construction of a cultural center for protection of the country’s cultural artifacts, thus it was ready to transfer the amount.
Nevertheless, Mandanjeet Singh, a cultural-loving wanted SAFF to be set up out of the government’s limitation.
Minister of Information and Culture said he didn’t want SAFF to be changed to an NGO and its budget was spent in renting of a house, office, car and others, adding I’d opened a bank account when a contribution of $60,000 had reached here from Paris and I’d written it in the government’s imports slip the other day.
“From the beginning of 2004 to beginning of 2006, I’ve handed over the job with approval of Mandanjeet Singh to Umera Khan Masoudi, who is an honest person and $229,000 sent to the bank account and $192,000 of the money was spent for renovation of Mandanjeet Singh’s cultural artifacts center.”, he said.
Raheen added the remained $77,000 was spent in dispatching of a girl and boy every year to fine arts university of Lahore and one girl and boy to Chenoy University in India to receive journalism and monthly salary of a secretary and expenditure of stationery and anything we have now is $20,000.
