ISLAMABAD – Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad SaeedMonday told National Assembly that Hazara motorway would be opened fortraffic from November 15 and revealed the project was earlier delayed dueto design changes for personal people’s benefit whose properties werelocated along the motorway.
Responding to a point of order of member National Assembly of PakistanMuslim League(N) Murtaza Javed Abbasi, he said he referred the case ofHazara motorway to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and asked it to lookinto the causes of adding a bridge in the project for the personal benefitof some people.
The changes ordered by a former prime minister in the project led to delayand cost escalation, he added.
He said the inquiries ordered by him into the design changes in motorwayprojects led to recoveries of Rs 10.8 billion.
Inordinate changes were also made in the motorway sections of Hakala – DeraIsmail Khan, Sukkur-Multan and Lahore Abdul Hakeem.
Murad said those responsible for loss to the national exchequer shouldapologise.
Responding to another point of order of MNA Noor Alam Khan, the ministersaidthe federal cabinet in a decision banned the smuggling of flour toAfghanistan.
He said prices of flour had decreased due to decisions of the cabinet. Heclarified that there was no ban on movement of flour across the provinces.
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Murad said Prime Minister Imran Khan also took the decision to give asubsidy of Rs 6 billion to 4000 government run Utility Stores for provisionof flour, sugar, ghee and other edible items to the public.
Minister for Power and Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan said he along with theleadership of Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) was inaugurating gas and otherprojects in Abbotabad and other areas of his constituency and they wouldkeep on doing it.
He was responding to Murtaza Javed Abbasi who had alleged that gas projectswere being stopped in his constituency.
Omar said support for PTI had increased and people were joining the partybecause of its public welfare projects.
He said in the last election he secured 172,000 votes, the highest inPakistan and defeated the candidate of PMLN by 40,000 votes.
