ISLAMABAD - PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said yesterday that by questioning transparency of motorways built by PML-N under CPEC, Imran was either accusing China or organisations under Pakistan Armed Forces of committing corruption and embezzlement. At a press conference, Ahsan said that Imran was demolishing Pakistan’s economy and crushing the people. 

This reflects Imrans sick mentality that he did not even think before defiling the image and reputation of Pakistan Army’s subsidiaries like FWO and NLC. These allegations by Imran also taint Pakistan’s strongest friend and most trusted ally China, which was a dangerous act clearly against national interest, he said. 

He said that different roads had different costs based on their specifications and engineering design according to the land and topographical requirements. For example, he said a road in a flood prone area is more expensive and so is a road with more bridges. 

He pointed out that the ambassador of China had tweeted praises for the Havelian-Thakot project as a model of engineering expertise and perfection and had received international award, while the PTI government is alleging corruption on the same projects. He challenged Imran to write to the Chinese President to initiate an inquiry about the Multan-Sukkur Motorway over which PTI ministers alleged Rs 50-70 billion kickbacks. He reminded Imran that the JIT over these allegations was still pending. Imran must answer which projects were a victim of corruption, because Multan-Sukkur Motorway, Havelian-Thakot, and East Bay in Gawadar were all directly invested by China and had nothing to do with the government of Pakistan, he said. 

Ahsan also lashed out against the PTI government for asking China to renegotiate finances for the energy projects by Chinese companies during the recent JCC meetings. He said why should foreign investors take the brunt for the incompetence and incapacity of the unqualified PTI government. He told that no special concessions were given to China for these energy projects and they were given same conditions as rest of the world was offered. But China, on request of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the only country that invested because at the time not even local investors were willing to put in a single dollar. He mentioned how Thar Coal’s mining was made possible only with China’s help which will help in producing the cheapest electricity for years and years to come. 

He slammed Imran Khan for calling CPEC projects a burden on Pakistan’s economy and that excess capacity was installed. He stressed that this capacity was installed keeping in consideration 5.8pc growth rate and had that continued under PTI even this electricity would not have been enough. But because Imran crashed Pakistan’s economy to negative growth, obviously the demand for electricity was suppressed. On top of that the demand was further crushed by three times increase in the electricity tariffs. He warned that Imran’s anti-CPEC rants stinks of Western propaganda and was strictly against the interests of the country and its people. 

Jaglot-Skardu, Jakhat-Challas, Rurbat-Hoshab, Hoshab-Sohrab highways, M2 Lahore-Islamabad reservisicing, Lahore-Sialkot Motorway, Karachi, Sehwan-Rattudero, Thaliyan Link Road were all built by Pakistan Army’s FWO. He asked Imran to tell the nation how much money did FWO made through corruption by over invoicing the projects. He also refuted Imran’s statement that Mattiyari-Lahore transmission line was delayed by PML-N since 2013 whereas he pointed out that its agreement was signed in May 2018 and date of commissioning was set for September 2021. Imran should read about things before opening his mouth, he suggested. This he said was Pakistan’s first high voltage transmission line and the world’s second. This was state of the art project by PML-N, he said. He paid tribute to the PML-N government for its vision that enabled state of the art technology in Pakistan. 

Ahsan said that it was written in the CPEC document that from 2020 to 2025 it would be the industrial development phase and 9 special economic zones were specified in 2018. PTI had to complete the infrastructure of these 9 zones by 2020 but it did not lay a single brick. Now PTI is talking about it when it is already 2 years late, he lambasted. 

Imran has destroyed Macro Economics of Pakistan and he should remember that these industrial zones were not government to government but businesses to businesses. No investor would be interested in a country where currency exchange rates were plummeting and the financial outlook is unstable under PTI government, he questioned. 

Ahsan said the PML-N lined up 40 billion dollars investment by stabilising currency rate but Imran has taken Rs 16,000 in loans and spent it all on debt-servicing .