Daily Times

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Sunday lambasted the criminal negligence and inefficient performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government led by former prime minister Imran Khan Niazi, saying that the country paid a heavy price for their blunders and political vendetta.

The prime minister expressed these views after performing the soft launching of various development projects which included Rs 50 billion Medical City, Rs 52 billion National Health Support Programme, and Rs 30 billion Population Welfare Programme.

On the occasion, he also broke grounds for the 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. Addressing the ceremony, the PM said Imran Niazi had neglected the completion of the 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 in 2019 but it was stalled due to criminal negligence of Imran Niazi and the lack of interest of the previous government.

A huge amount of the nation went down the drain, causing huge losses for the poor country, he opined, adding it was one of the worst examples of PTI’s bad governance.

“Who will be held accountable for such a blunder? It is the continuation of a saga of 75 years for which they were all responsible,” he quipped.

Why the judiciary did not take suo motu for 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 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.

With such accountabilities, the nations in the world moved forward, he added. 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 that 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 the begging bowl due to the 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 the 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 the past would be useless. If they failed, the public will not forget them. Let us wash away the blots of the past,” the PM stressed.

He also expressed his resolve to revive the country’s economy by eliminating poverty and unemployment. The prime minister also regretted that due to PTI’s sits at D-Chowk in 2014, President Xi’s visit 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, the 1150 MW Bhikki project in Punjab. The prime minister, on the occasion, said 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 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 that one part of the ring road was left out, adding now its completion would facilitate a huge number of commuters by removing the vehicular congestion. The extension of the Metro bus project would serve thousands of commuters on a daily basis, he added and directed for its completion within three months.