The Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) scam has once again troubled the ruling Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government. While Prime Minister Imran Khan has already waged the call for a full-fledged inquiry, it cannot be overlooked that the suggestive fact-finding reports go as high as to touch CM Usman Buzdar and his financial advisor, Dr Salman Shah.
The plot further thickened after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) accused Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari of Rs2.5 billion corruption in RRR. In this regard, Zulfi Bukhari resigned from his position over the allegations while Ghulam Sarwar said he and his family would leave politics for life if any allegations are proved.
However, there has been no reported evidence of any landholdings owned by Bukhari in the vicinity of the ring road’s route. Unfortunately, it has become a norm for the opposition to raise a ruckus whenever anyone in the skipper’s inner circle is mired in any controversy.
Two fact-finding reports — one by the Rawalpindi commissioner and the other by the deputy commissioner — landed at the prime minister’s office, with the second report hinting that the project had been realigned with the approval of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and his finance adviser Dr Salman Shah.
The fact-finding process has raised several questions such as why the commissioner alone signed the report when two other members of the commission — Rawalpindi DC retired captain Anwarul Haq and an additional commissioner of Rawalpindi — had refused to sign it and prepared a separate fact-finding report.
The commissioner’s report named some private housing societies, which were far from the original ring road plan but benefitted through the realignment. It alleged that ex-commissioner Capt (retired) Mehmood and suspended Land Acquisition Commissioner Waseem Tabish wrongly paid Rs2.3 billion in compensation of land acquired for the road and benefitted a renowned family of Sangjani while acquiring its land.
Whether it was the brigade of private housing societies benefitting through the project or the public officers involved in the realignment, action should be taken against all guilty. There should be no compromise on supremacy of law and accountability.
