No cabinet member is involved in Rawalpindi Ring Road scandal : Fawad Chauhdry
ISLAMABAD: (Monitoring Desk) Fawad Hussain, the Minister for Information, made some new disclosures about the Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3) scandal on Tuesday, saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan had called for an investigation after an engineer sent him a letter claiming that the road’s structure had been modified.
After an inquiry into the issue, it was discovered that not only had the road’s alignment been modified, but it had also been widened by 29 kilometres towards Attock, according to Fawad Chauhdry.
Fawad Chauhdry said that the road was expanded to profit many housing societies.
Due to alleged involvement of Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari and Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan in convincing officials to modify the project’s design, Fawad said that no proof of any minister or adviser’s participation in the Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3) project has been found so far.
He went on to say that Bukhari had resigned on moral grounds. Both government officials have denied the allegations, claiming that they were, inadvertently drawn into the matter. All people are equal under the law. After the Rawalpindi Ring Road scandal controversy erupted in the media, he said in a twitter message that all complaints against opposition leaders, cabinet members, the bureaucracy, or any organisation will be investigated.
Fawad Chauhdry said that the idea of “accountability” would apply to anyone facing any complaints, and that it was the expected framework reform. According to the minister, the charges could only be investigated in Imran Khan’s government if they were raised against whomever. He said that, on the contrary, during the PML-N and PPP administrations, the media exposed misdeeds loud and clear, but that it went unnoticed.
He said that the PTI government had changed the system because it claimed that government officials should be afraid of transparency, and that powerful people should not be above the law.
Fawad said the PM was informed about the Ring Road scheme, which included a 23-kilometer stretch added to the original alignment to support housing societies, resulting in an additional payment of Rs20 billion for land acquisition.
According to the preliminary report, the commissioner accepted allegations that the former commissioner and several officers were involved in the affair, recommending that the issue be referred to the relevant departments for more investigation.
