ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour has pinned the failure of his department on National Logistic Cell (NLC).
Answering a question during an interview with BBC on Sunday, the federal minister maintained “The Ministry of Defence owes Pakistan Railways big time because the National Logistic Cell is a defaulter.”
He said not long ago Railways was freighting about 68 per cent of the total cargo transported in Pakistan, which reduced to only 28 per cent, only because National Logistic Cel poached our business.
To a question, he said his ministry never tolerated corruption, evident from the fact that at least 1,300 employees, who were found involved in a scam worth Rs8 billion, were sacked without any discrimination.
Replying to a question, Bilour credited President Zardari with saving Pakistan Railways from going bankrupt.
“Had the president not intervened the railroad department would have come to a grinding halt,” he said.
Speaking on the health of locomotives, which were failing now and then, he urged National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the higher judiciary to come forward and look into the case of those 59 railway engines that were purchased during the tenure of then minister for railways Lt Gen Javaid Ashraf Qazi.
“The engines sourced from China in Musharraf-era were faulty, that’s why they break down so often,” he said.