LAHORE - Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar laid the foundation stone of the first clean drinking water project of Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority in Chak Jhumra on Monday.
Provincial Minister Ajmal Cheema, Khayal Ahmad Castro, MNA Chaudhry Zahid Nazir, Members of National and Provincial Assemblies, Chief Executive, Punjab Aab Pak Authority Zahid Aziz, Chairman Punjab Aab Pak Authority Dr Shakeel and others were also present.
Addressing the ceremony and talking to the media, Ch Sarwar said: ‘’I am grateful to Allah Almighty that the dream I had after assuming office as Governor Punjab is going to be fulfilled today.
I also thank Prime Minister Imran Khan for giving me the responsibility of provision of potable water to people of Punjab”.
He also thanked Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Minister for Housing Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed, Minister for Law Raja Muhammad Basharat, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and all members of the Punjab Assembly who played an important role in getting legislation passed.
The Governor said that the first project will be completed at a cost of more than Rs 161 million.
He said every single member of Aab-e-Pak Authority will have to play his role with utmost honesty.
Sarwar said: “You all know that I always speak the truth without any fear and I will continue to do so in the future.
There is no doubt that if some people in the bureaucracy had not halted the procedures, the project that I am inaugurating today would have started a year and a half ago but we want to forget the past and move on now.
If I am responsible for the provision of clean drinking water to the people of Punjab, then it is my responsibility to tell the people about whatever hinders it”.
The Governor said that billions of rupees were spent on providing clean drinking water to the people during the tenure of Pervez Musharraf and other governments including PML-N but not a single filtration plant was functional today.
“The Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority will also have billions of rupees in funds but I assure the nation that I will not allow anyone to take or give commission in any project”.
He said that every penny of the people would be protected in Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority and all the information about every project would be available on its website to ensure complete transparency. “We will make the Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority such an organization that no successive government will be able to end it even if it wants to.
We will create such networks that will ensure uninterrupted implementation of projects”.
Chaudhry Sarwar further said that filtration plants will not only be installed in the constituencies won by the people of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf but also in constituencies where the opposition parties have won.
