LAHORE: Punjab Labour Minister Ashraf Sohna said on Monday that official records point to the purchase committee and a private company Mediquip in the financial embezzlement of Rs 30 million in the purchase of angiography machine for Nawaz Sharif Social Security Hospital. Giving details of the corruption scandal at a press briefing at his official residence, Sohna said ‘high prices’ were paid for angiography machines, which were supplied by the same medical company to the Punjab institute of cardiology (PIC) at a very low price.
He said 40 hangers were purchased for Rs 9 million, adding that US$ 120,000 was paid in advance for the repair of the equipment for the fourth and fifth year.
“A good sum of money could have been generated if the said amount had been deposited in a bank for three years,” he said, adding that US$ 20,000 was spent on training of two individuals in Japan, while the training facility was easily available at the PIC. He further said a collar which costs Rs 500 has been purchased at Rs 15,000. It is just the ‘tip of an ice berg’ and other details will be given by inquiry committee already formed by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Sohna also gave names of individuals on the purchase committee.
The names included Vice commissioner Bilal Butt, Director Purchase M Ilyas, Technical Committee member Shahid Malik and cardiologist Sultan Tipu. Moreover, he said the issue was not about Punjab and the centre, or the PPP and the PML-N, but it was a fight against corruption. Highlighting another financial scam of oxygen cylinders purchased in 2007 for social security hospitals in different districts across Punjab, Sohna said that no action had been taken against the chief executive only because he was an army officer, despite the fact that he forwarded the case to anti-corruption several times.
He said the chief minister has formed a committee to probe the incident and he will fully cooperate with the committee. He said the committee will also base its findings on the file, from where he has given facts to the media. Answering a question, he said, “I’ve given the proposal of leaving the Punjab coalition government several times to the party co-chairman, but he has his own political vision and wants us to support the PML-N in Punjab”.
