ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Sunday held Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz responsible for allegedly committing massive corruption in road infrastructure projects.
Addressing a press conference flanked by Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Murad Saeed said that the incumbent government is constructing highways and motorways on Build-Operate-Transfer basis instead of past practices of taking loans.
The minister said PML-N government minted around one trillion rupees in awarding highways and motorways contracts, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government saved billions of rupees by ensuring transparency in road infrastructure projects.
He said despite rise in the value of dollar and the cost of other construction material, PTI is constructing motorways and highways with over 400 million rupees per kilometre.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said Prime Minister Imran Khan never remained against construction of road and developing infrastructure but he is against corruption in the development projects.
Chaudhry said PML-N committed a massive corruption in awarding contracts for the construction of highways and motorways while being in the power.
He said that when the PML-N government of the past was signing a contract of Lahore-Islamabad motorway and in the same year its leadership was busy in procuring expensive Avenfield properties in London.
Earlier, Murad Saeed while addressing the media in Islamabad had alleged that the PML-N led-government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of the Multan-Sukkur Motorway worth Rs259 billion.
“Later, the cost was increased up to Rs292 billion due to financial mismanagement and thus the project suffered a huge loss,” Saeed was quoted as saying.
The Minister had said that the contracts of the projects were awarded to companies of their [the PML-N’s] choice, causing losses worth billions to the nation.
