Former minister of state Zartaj Gul and former chief minister Usman Buzdar were summoned by Punjab anti-corruption authorities on April 10th over allegations of corruption in the construction of a 50km long road in Taunsa Sharif.
The road was built at a cost of Rs700 million and was allegedly constructed using poor quality material. Zartaj Gul was accused of taking a 10% commission on the provision of funds for community development programs.
The anti-corruption authorities requested records of the community development program schemes and also summoned Public Health Engineering officers for investigation. In addition to this, former chief minister Usman Buzdar was accused of corruption with the alleged connivance of highway department officers and contractors. He was alleged to have approved the use of poor-quality tiles worth crores of rupees in the construction of the road.
The anti-corruption authorities also claimed that Usman Buzdar received kickbacks in the contract for the construction of a cemetery wall, benefitting his close relative Dr. Ejaz Leghari of millions of rupees in contracts.
Furthermore, it was alleged that Usman Buzdar used government funds to construct a hall at his personal residence worth millions of rupees. The anti-corruption authorities have requested that both Zartaj Gul and Usman Buzdar appear before them on April 10th for further investigation into these corruption allegations.
