LAHORE: PPP leader Faiza Malik has criticised the Parvez Elahi government for planning to construct a Punjab House in Gwadar instead of diverting funds toward flood victims in the province.

She regretted when a part of the province was under the floodwater, the Punjab government decided to construct a Punjab House at Gwadar for what she said was for the recreation of the ruling elite.

She wondered how the tax money of Punjab could be spent in another province and that too at a time when Punjab itself needed funds to rehabilitate millions of flood victims.

She said former chief minister Usman Buzdar claimed to have invested billions of rupees in the uplift of his hometown, Taunsa, and building small dams there to harness the hill torrents. But the dams were seen nowhere as hill torrents played havoc with the population of the area.

She said the incumbent chief minister has confined the development to Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin as if he was the CM of the two districts. She alleged that Gujrat-specific jobs were being created to accommodate supporters of Mr Elahi.

Ms Malik alleged that Mr Elahi was using public money in his hometown only to win the next elections at the cost of the people affected by the devastating floods.

She threatened that the PPP would take to the street if the public money was not diverted towards the welfare of the people of the province.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2022