Pervaiz says mines not leased in his tenure

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) senior leader Ch Pervaiz Elahi has termed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's statement on Chiniot mines lease in his tenure a pack of lies.

In a statement on Tuesday, he asked Shahbaz Sharif as to what iron he had discovered after spending Rs2.5 billion. "My government, after spending Rs 40m only had found that iron was not usable. When a lease agreement was signed I was not the chief minister as there was a caretaker government in place," he added. He said that Shahbaz Sharif could not deny the fact that caretaker Chief Minister Justice (R) Ejaz Nisar had signed a summary of lease on November 24, 2007. He said the Sharif brothers had staged a drama of discovering gold and changing the fate of the nation while only iron was found there and it was not usable.