ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan has decided to appear before the Senate Standing Committee on Communications to defend the expenditure of nearly Rs2 billion from the public exchequer on a five-kilometre stretch of National Highway (N-5) located directly in front of his privately owned Park View Housing Society in Lahore.
The Senate committee is scheduled to meet on Friday afternoon at the Parliament House, Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Senator Pervaiz Rasheed.
Earlier, the Senate Standing Committee on Communications had sought a detailed briefing from the Chairman of the National Highway Authority (NHA) over the spending of billions of rupees on the N-5 section between Thokar Niaz Baig and Hydera Bridge. The committee expressed concern over a possible conflict of interest, as the Park View Housing Society, owned by the federal minister and his family, is situated along this stretch of the highway.
According to the official notice issued for Friday’s meeting, the committee will take up the issue of alleged undue favour extended by the NHA to the incumbent communications minister’s private housing project. Agenda item number 10 of the meeting specifically calls for a briefing by the NHA chairman on the “billions of rupees expenditure incurred on Hydera Bridge to Thokar Niaz Baig” and questions whether the development works were aimed at favouring Park View Society.
Park View Housing Society is located on the main N-5, commonly known as the G.T. Road, between Thokar Niaz Baig and Hydera Bridge in Lahore.
Official documents available indicate that the cumulative cost of the works on this five-kilometre stretch is close to Rs2 billion. The expenditure includes Rs4.01 million for the construction of a smart U-turn, Rs105 million for repair and maintenance of the road corridor, Rs137 million for installation of lighting, Rs241 million for highway safety works, Rs671 million for improvement and widening of the road, and Rs291 million for the extension of Hydera Bridge. Additional allocations include Rs49.6 million for plantation and sprinkling, Rs282 million for redesigning a U-turn, Rs150 million for the construction of two U-turns, and Rs1.8 million for further improvement and widening of the road.
Sources told Infra News Pakistan that the utilisation of such a large volume of funds was carried out on the directions of the federal minister. The sources also claimed that several procedural lapses were identified in the execution of the projects, which are now likely to come under scrutiny during the upcoming Senate committee meeting.
