LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus-Pasha told the Punjab Assembly on Thursday that the provincial government had to spend 43pc of the supplementary budget of outgoing fiscal year on rescue, relief and rehabilitation of the 2014 flood victims.

`The major amount of supplementary budget had been spent under unexpected expenditure head and rehabilitation of flood victims last year,` the ministersaid while winding up the debate on the supplementary budget.

She told the house that of the Rs42.95 billion allocated for the supplementary budget for fiscal year2014-15,anamountof Rs18.17 billion had been spent on victims of natural calamity last year. She said in the 16 worst-hit districts, owners of 18,000 houses were paid Rs25,000 each for repair, while nearly 200,000 victims were paid Rs10,000 each as compensation for damaged crops and cattle etc.

Commenting on opposition members` statement that the supplementary budget was mismanaged, she said the government could not face the masses if it had ignored the flood victims.

She said further expenses incurred were provincial excise stamps, adjustments in pays of doctors and specialists, reformsin autonomous bodies and the establishment of Apparel Park in the wake of GSP plus status.

`Should the government have waited for the budget to establish Apparel Park especially when Pakistan has achieved the status of GSP plus from EU and the government is going towards valueaddition textile.

The minister further said repeated China visits by the chief minister and other government officials were aimed at negotiating multiple projects being launched in Punjab for better economic growth, GDP and service delivery.

Earlier, opposition members lashed out at the government for spending supplementary budget on `personal adventures and providing no relief to ordinary citizens.` They questioned whether11 visits of the chief minister to China, media advertisements worth millions, Rs3.4 million for Punjab House and expenditure on horse and cattle show were emergencies or unavoidable circumstances.

Mian Aslam Iqbal of the PTI, on a point of order, said the government was presenting the supplementary budget worth Rs42.95 billion only to get it stamped from the house as it was aimed at committing misappropriations. He further said the government on the one hand spent Rs2 billion on one-kilometre track of metro bus and awarded Rs4 billion to the LDA DG but, on the other hand, state hospitals lacked ventilators and other equipment.

Iqbal said the drug testing laboratory was being wrapped up to pass on benefit to the son of a fed-eral minister who was settled outside Pakistan, adding the new contract was being given to an Indian company which was already blamed for providing medicine to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology which killed several patients.

He advised the chief minister to `open an office in China as his repeated visits had cost provincial exchequer millions of rupees.

Mian Tariq Mehmood of the PML-N questioned the opposition members for not raising issue and presenting resolution in favour of Kalabagh Dam and ignoring the poor for treatment at Shaukat Khanum Hospital for two years.

Dr Murad Ras of the PTI said the comparison between PTI and PML-N was out of question as the former had only two-year experience against 25 years of thelatter.Khadeeja Omer of the PML-Q demanded audit of head money being given to the Punjab police since 2008.

Qazi Ahmad Saeed of the PPP said the government expenditure witnessed 188pc increase, while its performance declined 65.97pc.

Sadia Sohail (PTI) said block allocations bred all problems as the government always diverted budget of police, health, education, drinking water and women welfare to other sectors. Ms Sohail said the provincial government even spent Rs360 million on laptop scheme for youth.

When Sheikh Ijaz of PML-N started criticising PTI leader Imran Khan and demanded resignation of the KP chief minister for `lacking good governance and holding bloody local elections,the PTI legislators raised slogans against Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. The PML-N legislators replied in the same fashion.

Mian Aslam requested the chair to take up the matter of investigative report of BBC about MQM`s involvement in RAWsponsored terrorism and training of their workers. He said the matter needed to be debated in the house and taken up with the federal government as it was the issue of Pakistan`s solidarity. As Iqbal requested to involve Law Minister Rana Sanaullah in the debate, the chair assured him of initiating debate on the issue in next sitting.

The speaker, however, said debate was not necessary and asked the law minister to rather bring resolution on the issue.

The session was adjourned till 9am on Friday (today).