PESHAWAR: Another serious financial scandal of the 13-year dark and black tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has come to light, in which a sensational revelation of the worst corruption in history, looting and dacoity of provincial resources, has been made in the minerals sector.
The official audit report has exposed the hollow claims of transparency and accountability of the PTI government, making it clear that this was not just an ordinary administrative negligence but an organized and planned corruption network of the government and the land mafia, as a result of which the national exchequer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffered an irreparable loss of more than Rs 16 billion 94 crores in just a short period of one year.
According to the details released by the Audit Department, under the high-level patronage, negligence, and criminal nexus of the PTI government, open permission for illegal mining was given across the province during the years 2022 and 2023 alone, through which natural resources and minerals worth more than Rs 8 billion were looted.
The audit report also points out that Rs 4.31 billion dues from former rulers’ favourite and defaulting contractors were deliberately not collected at all, which is living proof that this corruption and dacoity had direct official and political patronage.
According to the sensational revelations of the report, despite the presence of the administrative structure of the province, check posts, inspectors and personnel of the Minerals Department, illegal mining continued unabated across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without any fear.
Through this institutional incompetence and collusion, another Rs 3.08 billion was extorted from the provincial exchequer. In addition, under the pretext of construction of public interest projects like highways and small dams, illegal and merciless cutting of gravel and sand was carried out, through which national resources worth Rs 3.07 billion were usurped.
Political and economic analysts say that these staggering figures in the audit report confirm the fact that Tehreek-e-Intishaar, by remaining imposed on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 13 years in the name of power, brutally looted the natural and mineral resources of the province and kept nurturing its favorite mafias on public money.
The public demands that former ministers, bureaucrats, and contractors involved in this serious financial dacoity and organized corruption should be immediately held accountable, and the looted money should be brought back to the provincial treasury.
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