LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that everyone in the country must respect and accept rule of law as supremacy of the constitution and law reflect how much a society is civilised.
The accountability by the NAB or any other institution must be just and across-the-board, he told the media after the inauguration of surgical tower at Mayo Hospital here yesterday.
The chief minister claimed Punjab government had saved Rs70 billion of the nation in the orange line metro train project.
He explained that the company which gave the minimum bid of 2.1 billion dollars should have been given the train project as per PPRA rules, but “we talked with them and cost of the project was further cut down to 1.47 billion dollars. This way, 70 billion rupees were saved.”
Accepting the NAB authority to dig out corruption, Shehbaz at the same time also wanted this institution to praise the government for saving huge amount of money of the poor country.
NAB need not give them [PML-N regime] a certificate of merit but it should pay tribute to the people of Punjab who have chosen such a government that has broken the development impasse, he added.
To a question, the chief minister said that Imran Niazi levelled baseless allegations against him with regard to Chinese company Yabaite in Multan metro bus project.
“I request NAB chairman to tell the reality of this claim to the nation. If I am accused then I should be barred from the elections. If I am not a criminal then the one who levelled allegations should be held accountable,” he added.
About the surgical tower, Shehbaz Sharif said it will provide world class facilities to the citizens. A hospital of such standards is not available in the public sector, he added.
He lauded Health Minister ImranNazir, Secretary Najam Shah, chief secretary and King Edward Medical University VC Dr Ibrar Ashraf, and announced a prize of one million rupees for Dr Ibrar and his team.
Replying to different questions from media persons, the chief minister said that this latest hospital has been established by the Punjab government with its own resources.
Turning his guns again towards PTI chairman, he said that Imran Khan made tall claims about improving healthcare facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but practically did nothing.
He added: “He [Imran] has ruined the KP and no new hospital has been built there. The two hospitals working for the last two decades too have not been upgraded.
“We have made a wonderful hospital in Swat after floods and modern hospitals have also been established in Punjab which have all the latest medical facilities. Multan Kidney Centre, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Muzaffargarh, PKLI and a latest hospital in Okara are important milestones.”
Provincial ministers, assembly members, administrative secretaries and others attended the ceremony.
‘NAB should appreciate us’ for saving public money
