Sports City scam: NAB tightens noose around Ahsan Iqbal

NAROWAL (92 News) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has tightened the noose around PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal in the Narowal Sports City project. On Saturday, a NAB team visited Narowal city and recorded the statements of the people. They also gleaned information about the project. In May 2018, the National Accountability Bureau had initiated probe against then minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal for his alleged involvement in irregularities committed in the sports city project. The official press release of the NAB released had stated that NAB Chairman (retd) Justice Javed Iqbal had ordered the bureau to verify the complaints against the alleged misappropriation of government funds – a staggering six billion rupees — in the construction of the Narowal Sports City Project (NSCP). The bureau elaborated that the chairman had taken notice of the matter as rules were violated in the construction of the project and there was also the additional issue of security concerns. The case was intriguing because a special allocation was made in the Public-Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the project. The funds allocated were then spent through the Sports Board of Pakistan (PSB). According to the PSDP 2018-19 report, the cost of the project was Rs 2.9 billion. Just over Rs 2.5 billion has already been spent while the remaining Rs 467 million have been apportioned for the upcoming fiscal year. One of the major objections against the project was if it was really necessary to build such a huge sports city in a small town like Narowal, when the same funds could have been used to build a similar facility in a bigger city like Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad.