Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, said that the whole nation is trapped in the vortex of problems and difficulties during the last four years due to bad governance and loot and plunder of incapable rulers occupying Islamabad, while democratic system and democratic institutions have also been destroyed in the country.
He said immediate and fair and free general elections are the only solution to the problems being faced by the masses. He said that collective wisdom and efforts are required to eliminate archaic system prevalent in the country and to achieve the goal of progress and prosperity. The Chief Minister said that Pakistan is full of multi-dimensional talent as well as resources, but, unfortunately, Pakistani leaders are wandering in the world with a begging bowl in their hands.
He said that time has come to reject the aid of 'Aghyaar' and to rely on the available resources. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said that Punjab government has built the capacity of its institutions by promoting information technology. He stressed that effective steps have been taken to eliminate the culture of corruption and to promote simplicity and austerity.
The Chief Minister was addressing Punjab Governance Forum 2012 at Chief Minister's Secretariat here on Thursday. Chairman Institutional Reforms Group and Member National Assembly Ahsan Iqbal, Members National and Provincial Assemblies, foreign delegates, Chairman Punjab Education Foundation, Vice-Chairman Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, Secretaries of various departments, experts and a large number of intellectuals attended the ceremony.
The Chief Minister said that holding of Punjab Governance Forum is a welcome step and hoped that the practicable recommendations evolved as a result of the forum would go a long way in improving the performance of government institutions and provision of better services to the masses. He said that Punjab government has promoted transparency in the province and all development projects are being implemented strictly under the policy of third-party audit.
He said that during the previous government, Lahore-Kasur Road Project had been initiated but when he came into power and visited the project, it presented the look of a desert. Unfortunately, he pointed out, the work on various portions of the project had not even been started, but the contractors were made payments, and in this way billions of rupees of the nation were wasted in the name of public welfare. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said that present government has transformed the graveyards of corruption of the previous government into monuments to progress and prosperity and completed Lahore-Kasur Road Project.
He said that Bab-e-Pakistan Project was conceived to promote awareness in the younger generation about Pakistan Movement, for which a programme had been conceived to import white marble for the minaret of the project at a cost of Rs 90 crore, but the present government has instead ordered to use the local marble which will cost only Rs 30 crore. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said that corruption and loot and plunder of the Federal Government have destroyed the national economy, and there is a need to introduce a strict system of accountability. He said that when we took over power, all institutions were in a miserable condition whereas corruption and loot and plunder were the order of the day.