Scam? What scam? PM claims his govt is corruption-free

• Nawaz says govt ensures transparency in all projects since 2013; witnesses break-through of Right Headrace Tunnel in AJK

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that his government was corruption-free and has not been tainted in even a single scandal of financial bungling as transparency in all projects was its hallmark since 2013.

He was addressing a gathering here after witnessing the breakthrough ceremony of the right head-race tunnel of the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project marking completion of the 68-kilometre long tunnels system in the Neelum district of Azad Jammu Kashmir.

The event marked a major milestone towards completion of the strategically important 969 megawatts Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project. Prime Minister Nawaz came down heavily on the opposition for pursuing a policy of mud-slinging, negative politics and hampering country’s march towards progress and development.

He said that it was only during the tenure of PML-N governments that the country moved ahead. The prime minister who was visiting the project for the fourth time said that ridding the country of power outages was his earnest desire. He regretted that some people today were protesting against power outages, while it were they who were responsible for the present state of affairs.

Without naming anyone and in an apparent reference to the recent protest by the Pakistan People’s Party in Lahore against electricity loadshedding, the prime minister said that the “people were sick of you, for abusing the government daily, for using dirty language, and for something for which you are responsible.”

He recalled that the people were apprehensive that Pakistan might default by year 2012, however said that owing to the sincerity of his team and hard work, things have completely changed. He said that gone were the days when the country witnessed 18 hours long outages and the economy was about to collapse.

“We have not indulged in politics of confrontation, backbiting and mud-slinging and due to this reason, we have taken the country forward on path of progress and prosperity,” he said. “Hiding like an ostrich would do no good, making tall claims does not achieve anything, and God willing, the ‘lion’ will be again in power in 2018,” he said.

The prime minister said that the country was witnessing a revolution and added that 68km long tunnel through a difficult terrain has been completed and termed it an unusual feat. He said that the project was a victim of delays and poor planning in the past and said had his government not taken interest, this would have lingered for years to come.

He said that no previous government had any interest, or sense of responsibility towards completing this task. He said that the project, one of the many, was part of his government’s commitment to end the loadshedding from the country. After the power project in Bhikki, Baloki, Sahiwal and Port Qasim, were near completion, he said.

He questioned why no other government in the past thought of inter connecting the country with a network of high-quality six lane roads. He also mentioned the growing foreign investments, improvement in law and order situation, particularly in Karachi, improved rankings by international rating agencies, the best performing stock market, as some of his government’s achievements.

The prime minister said that every month new power projects would come on line and mentioned the Thar Coal and Sahiwal projects that were nearing completion. He said that by early next year, 10,000 megawatts would be added to the system, equivalent to the power added in past 70 years. “It is no small feat,” he said and attributed it to God’s help and Chinese cooperation.

He expressed satisfaction over the pace of progress in the power projects and said more electricity would bring in more employment opportunities and boost industrialisation and productivity. Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz witnessed the break-through of the Right Headrace Tunnel by the second Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). He was accompanied by AJK President Masood Khan, Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, State Minister Abid Sher Ali and Kashmiri lawmakers.

A documentary detailing various phases of the project was also shown. About 92 percent construction work has been completed on the project, involving extensive tunnel work in one of the hardest terrains. The first unit of the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project will start electricity generation by the end of February 2018, the second unit in mid-March, whereas the third and the fourth unit will be completed in April 2018.

WAPDA Chairman Muzammil Hussain lauded the prime minister for his commitment and vision and said under his dynamic leadership Pakistan was on the path of economic prosperity and development. He said that the project was ahead of its time-line and would be producing over 900 megawatts of electricity in seven-month time.