Punjab Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary, and Information Minister did not respond to Dawn’s calls and messages to confirm or deny these serious claims
Can a nation where 45 percent of the people are below the poverty line afford the luxury of an aircraft worth billions of rupees?
Dr. Akhtar Gulfam, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Dawn, Director News Dawn TV
LAHORE: Claims of the Punjab government purchasing a luxury aircraft worth millions of dollars for ‘VIP transport’ have sparked a new debate in political and public circles, however, the provincial authorities have so far maintained complete silence on this sensitive issue. According to ‘Strategy Bureau’, a social media account that shares news related to defense and security, the Punjab government has acquired a 2019-made ‘Gulfstream GVII-G500’ aircraft, the estimated cost of which is said to be between $38 million and $42 million (approximately 11 to 12 billion Pakistani rupees).
The report claims that the aircraft’s current registration number is N144S, which will soon be converted to a Pakistani registration. According to the flight tracking website ‘Flight Radar’, the aircraft has also been flying between various airports in Punjab since February 12. US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records show that the aircraft is currently owned by a trustee company that usually facilitates the purchase and sale of aircraft for foreign nationals or buyers who want privacy.
To confirm or deny these serious claims, Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and Additional Chief Secretary Ahmed Raza Sarwar did not respond to Dawn’s calls and text messages seeking clarification on the Punjab government’s position.
Punjab Additional Secretary (Welfare) Waseem Hamid denied the claims of purchasing the aircraft before abruptly disconnecting Dawn’s call.
Dawn also tried to contact Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari but she too did not respond to any of the questions sent as calls or text messages.
Amid this silence from the authorities, criticism of the alleged purchase of the aircraft continues, including from former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and former Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair.
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