Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed his “utter disappointment” over sheer “incompetence and lack of commitment” of the top babus of the ministry of communications for giving him a “poor presentation” about uplift and future plans to expand motorways and highways, Pakistan Today has learnt.
A well-placed source which attended a briefing conducted for the prime minister at the ministry the other day said the PM, who is obsessed with the promise by the Chinese prime minister for the Pakistan-China economic corridor, gave the communications secretary seven days to prepare for a follow-up briefing over the projects and future planning for installing the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor.
“During the briefing, the communications secretary informed the PM about gross irregularities committed by the PPP regime, adding that the ministry could not undertake major construction work in communications sector as funds earmarked for development and uplift of motorways and roads in the country were diverted by former prime ministers for mega projects in Multan, Larkana and Gujjar Khan.”
The source said the prime minister was informed that former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani diverted ministry’s funds towards Multan and Larkana for mega projects, including a web of bridges in Multan and roads network to the lands of President Asif Zardari and his relatives.
He said similar was the case with prime minister Pervez Ashraf, who diverted funds of the ministry towards Gujjar Khan’s development and due to the same reasons, the ministry could not undertake its basic patch-work, let alone undertaking new projects.
“However, the prime minister turned a blind eye and ignored the matter, leaving an impression that the government was not serious in probing gross irregularities committed by the PPP regime,” the source added.
The source said the secretary pointed out fifteen anomalies of serious nature in the audit of Motorways Police during the tenure of Zafar Abbas Lak. However, the PM ordered that those be shared with his office but did not make any specific order.
Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Pervez Rashid, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Special Assistant to the PM Tareq Fatemi and senior officials of the ministries of planning, railways and communications attended the briefing.
The matter also surfaced later during the proceedings of the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Communication when ANP leader Senator Zahid Khan accused former PM Gilani of diverting funds from the ongoing National Highway Authority (NHA) projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa towards Multan.
The senator also raised concern that during the past few months, Rs 3.7 billion had been allocated for Multan package.
It was also said that only small amounts were released for Lowari Tunnel, Peshawar Northern By-Pass and Hassanabdal-Mansehra Highway projects.
The source said the previous government of the PPP diverted funds of the Communications Ministry, neglecting the undertaking of various significant development projects, including projects in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The incomplete projects included AttabadLake at Karakoram Highway (KKH), Hassanabdal-Mansehra Road, Lowari Tunnel, Faisalabad-Multan Motorway, M-8 and other vital projects, which still remain stuck due to shortage of funds.