ACE claims massive corruption inIqbal Park project Books former PHA DG, others

LAHORE: Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) claims to have exposed corruption amounting to billions of rupees came in the construction and renovation of Greater Iqbal Park project.

Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab, has registered an FIR, a copy of which is also available with The News, under Section 409 TP, 5(2) 1947 Prevention of Corruption Act, Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab, against Mian Shakeel, former director general (DG) of Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), Chaudhary Tahir Sultan, project director of Greater Iqbal Park, Irfan Aslam, PHA director engineering, Riaz Ahmad Awan, PHA deputy director engineering and Shahid Saleem, chief executive officer(CEO) of a construction company on charges of corruption.

According to the inquiry conducted by ACE, a loss amounting to Rs381.874 million was caused to the national exchequer in Greater Iqbal Park project. In order to provide financial benefit to blue-eyed the rate of non-schedule items was excessively inflated as compared to market rate and PEPRA Rules were outright ignored.

Corruption was disclosed on non-schedule items’ purchase comprising musical dancing fountain, audio-video system for museum, Quaid-e-Azam hologram software and hardware, food court fountains, CCTV cameras, floodlights, write room, infotainment system development, network structure and hardware solution, folding benches, soft wheel train, LED lights and walkthrough gates.

According the FIR, the gravity of corruption can also be gauged that 11 walkthrough gates were purchased for Rs756,000 each and 98 wood folding benches were purchased for Rs120,000 each. It was also revealed during the inquiry proceedings that the work costing Rs1,500,000,000 was undertaken without getting approval in Greater Iqbal Park and the scope of the project was expanded up to four times in order to provide benefit to the favourites. No tender or bid process was taken into consideration during the process of enhancing the scope of the project and a single contractor was favoured, according to the inquiry findings. ACE officials claimed that each and every penny would be retrieved from the culprits and indiscriminate action was being taken against corrupt elements by implementing the policy of zero-tolerance.