LAHORE, Sept 3: Billions of rupees have been looted over the last eight years, but now the era of loot and plunder has been buried, an official handout quoted Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as saying at the opening of Bhogiwal Road in Gujarpura on Wednesday.

Sharif said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took a number of steps for the welfare of the masses during its previous tenure, but its government was toppled unconstitutionally and all development projects were stopped. He said conspiracies were being hatched against the incumbent provincial government.

Sharif said the PML-N leadership would never betray the masses and serve them sincerely and selflessly. He said a plan had been adopted for rapid development of the province and priority was being given to the provision of basic facilities to backward areas. He said several road, underpasses and flyover projects had been begun in the province, adding that services of the Frontier Works Organisation had been hired for the construction of roads and overall development of Lahore.

He said private contractors could be included in the development activity provided they promise to refrain from corruption and irregularities. He said a three-kilometre road from GT Road to Mahmood Booti would be completed at a cost of Rs90 million within four months. The chief minister announced that an emergency ward would be set up at Kot Khwaja Saeed Hospital. He said 70 tubewells were being installed to improve the supply of potable water to various areas of the city.

Separately, presiding over a meeting of the Capital City Police, Sharif said maintenance of law and order and protection of people’s lives and properties were two of his top priorities.

He told police to take measures to curb crime and arrest offenders. He ordered installation of closed-circuit cameras and deployment of security guards at financial and trade centres.