Punjab CM’s copter makes 627 flights costing Rs37 million

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has spent more time in air then his counterpart in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervaiz Khattak as the official helicopter of former was almost used twice daily throughout last year, according to official figures obtained by The News.
The documents provided by the Punjab government revealed that official helicopter of Punjab chief minister took 627 flights from July 2013 to October 2014 which cost national exchequer an amount of Rs37.07 million. For the same period, official helicopter of KP chief minister took 101 flights incurring a cost of Rs14.5 million.
This correspondent had sent the information requests to both KP and Punjab governments on same dates in October 2014 under the respective RTI laws but the Punjab government did not share the information until it was ordered to do so by the Punjab Information Commission. On the other hand, KP government shared information within a month.
However the Punjab government still refused to provide names of persons using official helicopter of the Shahbaz Sharif under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013, citing “security reasons” although the information was sought about the past events.
Opposition in Punjab Assembly had moved adjournment motion in January 2014 alleging that CM’s helicopter is being misused by Punjab Minister Bilal Yaseen who had visited a ‘sasta bazaar’ in Sahiwal on CM’s helicopter. Earlier, MNA Hamza Shahbaz had also used the helicopter for a Sheikhupura visit.
Interestingly the KP government had shared complete details of all the passengers who travelled on Pevaiz Khattak’s official helicopter during the year 2013-14 without showing any ‘security concerns”.
The information provided by the KP government had revealed that Rs14.5 million had been spent on the two KP government helicopters that made 101 flights during the period.The KP government had also confirmed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan used the CM’s helicopter on four occasions.
The KP chief minister used the official helicopter on 11 occasions during the period July 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014.The documents also revealed that other PTI leaders including Naeemul Haq, Abrarul Haq and Azam Swati had also used a government helicopter for commuting despite not being part of the KP government.
When contacted by The News Punjab Information Commissioner Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said the Punjab government believes that divulging information about passengers could reveal the pattern of flights for some criminal elements jeopardizing the security of the chief minister.
He said the commission is looking into the stance taken by the Punjab government while withholding information.We have received a similar complaint regarding non provision of information on the basis of security concern and we will soon give our ruling on the issue,” he said.