Summary Fingers have been raised on former CM KPK and his team over the incompletion of the Peshawar Metro
(WebDesk) - With the date of 25th July looming large, corruption allegations against various political parties and their leaders have taken full swing. The latest allegation to have surfaced the mainstream media is one concerning the former Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa (KPK), Pervaiz Khattak of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI). The respectable judges of the Peshawar High Court have termed the city’s Metro Bus project as “controversial”.
Almost two weeks prior to this decision, chairman NAB Justice Javed Iqbal took notice of the incompletion of the mega project and ordered DG NAB KPK to probe the matter at hand.
The Peshawar High Court reserved the decision concerning the petition filed against Peshawar’s Metro Bus project almost eight months ago on 22nd November 2017. The decision was announced yesterday, according to which the project is full of irregularities.
— DKKKS (@DunyaKKKS) July 19, 2018
Ex CM KPK Pervaiz Khattak commenced the project in October 2017 with help from Asian Development Bank. The CM announced the project to be completed by April 2018. However, this date was further delayed to 20th May. The 26 km long project, could not be completed during PTI’s term; something that turned lots of heads. Many leaders, especially Ex Chief Minister Punjab, Mian Shehbaz Sharif alleged Khattak of conducting corruption under the project’s name.
Also Read: Peshawar s BRT project, a pain in the chest
Chief Justice Peshawar High Court, Justice Waqar Ahmed, wrote in the detailed report that “the project should have been completed maximum by 24th June 2018, however, its fate still hangs in balance.
"The project’s initial finances were projected to be around 50 billion rupees but the incomplete project has already costed the government a total of 68 billion rupees”
The cost of the project has raised questions over the Ex CM’s competency since the Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan Metro Bus projects costed only 103 billion combined
The timing of the decision may well dent PTI’s hopes of sweeping the elections in KPK. It has raised fingers over the transparency of the former government especially since PTI leader Imran Khan keeps on daring the opposing leaders to prove corruption of even a single rupee during the five-year tenure.
Talking to senior anchorperson and show host, Kamran Khan, on Dunya Kamran Khan Ke Saath, senior journalist, Iftikhar Firdous said:
"Even though the former CM claimed that the project would be completed within 6 months, no such time frame was mentioned in any of the project’s documents, which is very strange"
"The project’s eventual condition is a result of miss-governance and lack of planning. The KPK government wanted to give the citizen this project but they hurried their way which led to lots of complications.”
“The overall cost of the project increased by nearly 35% owing primarily to the fact that the foundation had to be laid approximately 16kms above the ground due to various U-turn issues and political protests by the opposing parties.”
Whether the failure of the completion of the mega project is actually a result of corruption or only a lack of structural planning remains to be seen. But remarks coming from the High Court has certainly tinted Imran Khan’s claims of forming an honest governing body. On paper, Shehbaz Sharif’s claims regarding the project have certainly been given life; something that is a matter of great concern with Election day fast approaching.
Watch full program here: Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Sath 2018-07-19
Translated and edited by: Raacikh Asghar
