LOWER DIR: Senior government contractor Haji Karim Khan has appreciated Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif for his decision to abolish the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) and demanded an appropriate inquiry against the department’s officials, contractors, lawmakers and bureaucrats for looting the national wealth.

Speaking at a news conference at the Timergara Press Club here on Wednesday, he said the PWD had become a hub of corruption as most of its development funds were misused by former members of parliament and senators along with officials and contractors of the department.

The contractor said the PWD was an extra burden on the government and many mega financial scams, attached to it, had surfaced in the past but no one was punished for the wrong doings. He demanded the government to take practical steps against the corrupt mafia involved in embezzling the government treasury.

“The government has to recover the looted money from the corrupt elements involved in malpractices,” Haji Karim said, adding that funds worth millions were drawn for infrastructure development but there had been no actual physical work done on the marked projects.

Haji Karim Khan alleged that blue-eyed contractors were awarded contracts through parliamentarians for the sake of corruption. He pointed out that there had been mega corruption scandals of misuse of public funds, allocated for development in the districts of Mohmand, Bajaur and Charsadda.

FISH SEED: The Lower Dir fisheries department released thousands of fish seed (fingerlings) of different kinds in the Panjkora River at different spots here the other day.

The District Director of Fisheries Sajjad Khan told local journalists that the fingerlings would increase the production of fish fauna in the river. The official said that illegal fishing in the district was banned while several violators had been booked under the relevant sections of law.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024