LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that due to the ‘criminal negligence’ and inefficient performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government, the country paid a heavy price.
He expressed these views while performing the soft -launch of various development projects which included Rs 50 billion Medical City, Rs52billion National Health Support Programme and Rs30billion Population Welfare Programme here on Sunday.
He also broke grounds for SL-3 Lahore Ring Road project, Shadara to Kala Shah Kaku Metro Bus extension project and inaugurated 1263-MW Punjab Thermal power plant in Jhang with a capacity of generating 10 billion inexpensive units annually.
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While addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said Imran Niazi had neglected the completion of gas-fired Haveli Bahadur Shah power plant due to his animosity with the PML-N leadership and the country had to pay an additional whopping amount of Rs 77 billion besides its original cost of Rs74 billion at that time due to non-functionality.
He said the project was to be inaugurated during 2019 but it was stalled due to criminal negligence of Imran Niazi and lack of interest of the previous government.
A huge amount of the nation went down the drain, causing huge a great loss to the poor country, he opined, adding it was one of the worst examples of PTI’s bad governance.
“Why the judiciary did not take suo motu of such negligence, “the prime minister questioned, and maintained that he had no intention of victimization and did not want injustice with anyone, but there should be a transparent accountability of all those responsible for such failures whether it was done in a dictatorship or democratic regime; justice should be dispensed without any victimization, he said.
The ceremony was attended by Punjab Governor, Caretaker Chief Minister, federal and provincial ministers, parliamentarians and the relevant authorities.
The prime minister said these were the facts which the nation must know about the four years’ rule of Imran Niazi who played havoc with the national economy.
The prime minister said that they felt ashamed while carrying begging bowl due to those failures of the past government.
“It was a huge mishap of our history (PTI’s government) which is already strewn with such unpleasant incidents. If we do not change the attitude, we cannot aspire to achieve anything,” he regretted.
Citing example of China, he said it had now become the world’s second largest economy.
Japan and Germany bounced back economically from the destruction of World Wars owing to commitment, devotion and determination, he added.
“Let us gird up loins and work hard for the country’s progress as peeping into past would be useless. If we failed, the public will not forget us. Let us wash away the blots of the past,” the prime minister stressed.
He also expressed the resolve to revive country’s economy by eliminating poverty and unemployment.
The prime minister also regretted that due to PTI’s sits-in at D-Chowk, Islamabad during 2014, the visit of President Xi to Pakistan was postponed.
He said under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the PML-N government had initiated Haveli and Baloki power plants with power generation of 1200 MW each, besides, 1150 MW Bhikki project in Punjab.
He further said that the Medical City project would be completed with all the allied facilities and would be at par with the world’s renowned health projects like the PKLI was ranked best among the Asia’s top institutes.
He said the federal and provincial governments would jointly execute the project.
About the 8km SL-3 Lahore Ring Road, the prime minister said the one part of the ring road was left out, adding now its completion would facilitate huge number of commuters by removing the vehicular congestion. The extension of Metro bus project would serve thousands of commuters on daily basis, he added and directed for its completion within three months.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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