Khan demands ADB audit Nandipur power project

• PTI chief says cost of project has swelled from Rs 22 billion to Rs 84 billion during PML-N’s term
• Says Sharif third richest in Pakistan yet he’s not counted in top taxpayers

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Thursday demanded audit of the Nandipur power project by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), saying the expenditure of the project swelled from Rs 22 billion to Rs 84 billion during the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

Khan told a press conference that this power project was federal government’s project but it had Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s image on it so it was shut down after five days.

He said that Shehbaz Sharif used to claim he would end load shedding within 6 months. “There was corruption in solar power project as well. Audit that!” demanded Imran Khan.

Imran Khan said that WAPDA suffered losses worth Rs 980 billion while NEPRA informed in its report that 70 per cent extra electricity bills were charged. He said that Neelum-Jehlum project needed Rs 50 billion but the government allocated only Rs 10 billion for this project and therefore the funds are being collected in electricity bills now. He said that a delay of one year in Neelum-Jehlum project will cost Pakistan Rs 50 billion.

Talking about LNG import agreement, the PTI chairman said that the LNG deal is being kept secret by the government and alleged that the rulers were making money out of it. Imran said that Nawaz Sharif had cost Pakistan a loss of Rs 35 billion and LDA plots were awarded in 1988 to buy politicians. He said that circular debt in former president Pervez Musharraf’s era was Rs 200 billion which swelled by another Rs. 200 billion in the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) government. However, under the PML-N government, the circular debt has now risen to Rs 600 billion while the electricity tariff has doubled.

Khan said that Pakistan Steel Mills was working at 74 per cent of its capacity in 2008 and the losses incurred by it under PPP regime swelled to Rs 60 billion but the current government closed down the mill completely.

He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paid only Rs 470 as tax from 1994 to 1996 and quoting Wikipedia, Imran said that Nawaz Sharif is the third richest person of Pakistan with assets worth Rs 140 billion.

Accusing the PML-N of looting the public money by selling off public assets, Khan said the current government has left the Pakistan Steel Mills and the Pakistan International Airlines practically crippled, although these institutions were generating profit in the past.

“Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s private airline Air Blue minted Rs 60 million within a week by increasing its fares, taking advantage of the recent dispute between PIA management and pilots’ association,” he said.