ANP demands probe into BRT project

PESHAWAR: Members of the provincial information committee of the Awami National Party (ANP) on Tuesday said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had filed a case in the Supreme Court to stop the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from probing alleged corruption in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

Speaking at a news conference here, Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Samar Haroon Bilour said that though the ruling PTI had been claiming to fight corruption, but now its provincial government was reluctant to face investigation as it would expose its corruption in one of the mega projects in the provincial capital.

“The BRT project could not be completed in the stipulated time even though a huge amount of money was spent on it,” she said, adding that the commission mafia, corrupt officials and ministers should be investigated for their alleged corruption.

She was flanked by provincial information committee members Taimur Baz Khan, MPA Salahuddin, Rehmat Ali Khan and Hamid Toofan.

She said that the PTI had introduced dirty culture in politics and had started a humiliating campaign against ANP and other politicians on social media.

“We demand that the PTI leadership should tender an apology on the social media where some of its workers have humiliated ANP leaders,” she said and added the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had promised that the matters would be raised at the central level of the party.

She said that the prices of edibles were out of the reach of common people while the government had once again increased the rates of petroleum products, gas and electricity to put extra burden on the already stressed-out people. “The PTI government had gifted price-hike and unemployment to the people,” Samar Haroon Bilour added.

Speaking on the occasion, Taimur Baz Khan said that higher educational institutions and public universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were faced with financial crisis even some of the universities could not pay salaries to its staff but the provincial government had not announced any special package for University of Peshawar and other public universities.

“The university students have launched a fundraising campaign but the provincial government did not pay attention towards this issue,” he added.

Lawmaker Salahuddin said that there were dozens of ghost schools only in Peshawar district about which he had spoken on the provincial assembly floor but the government had not taken any practical steps.

He claimed that the people would reject the ruling PTI in the local body polls and the ANP would emerge victorious in the upcoming polls in the province.