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| November 22, 2005 | Tuesday | Shawwal 19, 1426 |
Purchase of VVIP planes was overdue: minister
ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: The Senate was informed on Monday that purchase of two planes for VVIPs, including the prime minister, had become overdue, as the two planes maintained by the PAF for this purpose had completed their design life.
Minister of State for Defence Hamid Sarfaraz, while responding to a query by Enver Baig, said that the summary for replacement of VVIP planes was moved last year and it was not a recent action.
He further stated that Falcon aircraft which was serving the VVIPs had been purchased in 1972. It had outlived its design life long ago and needed replacement. Similarly, he said, the other plane, Boeing 727, had been procured in 1968 and its replacement became due after 1998. He said it had been decided that another Boeing plane which was being procured for VVIP duty should not be a new plane but a used one.
Earlier, Mr Enwar Baig, during his speech on the earthquake and its aftermath, had made a reference to a newspaper story which said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had planned to purchase two planes for himself at an exorbitant cost and at a time when the nation was mourning over the death of thousands of people.
He had asked the government to cancel the deal for the time being and wait for completion of reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
Leader of the opposition, Mian Raza Rabbani, took the floor in response to the clarification offered by the minister and said that purchase of luxurious planes at the time when the country was faced with greatest tragedy of its history and was seeking donations from across the world would amount to putting salt on wounds of the people.
He said it was matter of priorities and the report that an official team would soon leave for evaluation of the proposed planes purchase deal was a matter of concern for the people.
It is pertinent to mention here that a Boeing plane was purchased during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif but it was handed over to the PIA after his government was overthrown in a military coup in 1999.
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