ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it would lodge an official complaint with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding the alleged mega corruption in the billion-tree project launched by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

It also announced to hold protests, across KP on May Day, to show solidarity with the labourers and condemn the price-hike, inflation and sufferings of the common man.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, KP PPP president Humayun Khan said that a delegation of party leaders had a meeting with PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and briefed him about PTI government’s corruption scandals.

He said that the PTI was involved in corruption in KP, for the past six years, but the media never paid attention towards it.

Firdous says PML-N spokesman should count the looted money instead of trees

“However, we have decided to inform the media about it. We will also file an application with NAB regarding the billion-tree project in a similar way as we filed an application regarding the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar project,” he said.

Accompanied by Senator Rubina Khalid, former National Assembly Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and other PPP leaders, Humayun Khan said that a report of provincial parliamentary committee which has been investigating the billion-tree project would be compiled soon.

“After that we will request NAB to investigate the project. Moreover it is strange that, although the project was of one billion trees, Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed, in China, that five billion trees had been planted,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that the statements of prime minister of Pakistan are becoming a matter of embarrassment for the country at international forums,” he said.

Earlier, PPP leaders Farhatullah Babar, Mr Humayun, Ms Khalid, Mr Kundi, Aijaz Khan Durrani and others called on Mr Bhutto-Zardari at Zardari House in Islamabad. The PPP chairman instructed them to expose PTI’s corruption at every forum.

The PPP leaders also apprised Mr Bhutto-Zardari of cases of corruption in BRT project, the Malam Jabba case and fake admissions case in educational institutions.

The PPP chairman told the party leaders that all the tall claims of the PTI and its leader Imran Khan were proving to be false one after the other. “Why don’t the investigation agencies take action against these mega corruption cases?”

Meanwhile, Spokesperson of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Marriyum Aurangzeb said that it was astonishing that 90 per cent trees, from one billion tree project, disappeared.

“However Imran Khan has been claiming that 5bn trees are planted. I believe it is another slip of the tongue. Or maybe those trees were planted on the same planet, on which five million houses are being constructed. I am thankful to Imran Khan as he has not claimed that his metro buses will travel faster than light. I assume Imran Khan has brought tsunami of one billion lies. I want to ask NAB if it has learnt about billion-tree tsunami or not,” she said.

In a rejoinder, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan advised the PML-N spokesperson that instead of counting trees, they should count the amount plundered by their leaders and make arrangements for its return to the national exchequer, adds APP

The adviser said that the elements defeated and frustrated in counting of votes during the elections had started counting trees for political gains, but they would also face frustration and defeat on this count.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2019