PTI govt deliberately slowed down development in Punjab: PM Shehbaz

• PM Shehbaz says "revenge" taken from Punjab's people for supporting PML-N.
• Meeting given detailed briefing on ongoing construction on Imamia Colony flyover.
• PM says PTI handed over province to "incompetent and puppet chief minister".

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had deliberately slowed down the pace of development that was achieved during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) tenure in Punjab.

Instead of initiating new projects, the ones launched by the PML-N government were halted, the premier said, adding that "revenge" was taken from the people of the province for supporting the PML-N.

The prime minister expressed these views during a high-level meeting to review ongoing public welfare and other proposed projects.

The meeting was attended by Caretaker Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, Adviser to the PM on Establishment Ahad Khan Cheema and federal and provincial authorities, the media wing of the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the construction work on the Imamia Colony flyover project. The prime minister issued directives for the early completion of the project.

Addressing the meeting, the prime minister said that during the four years of the previous government, the affairs of the province were handed over to an "incompetent and puppet chief minister".

Instead of focusing on the province's progress, the office of the chief minister was "misused for political manoeuvring at the federal level", PM Shehbaz said.

PM Shehbaz further observed that public welfare-oriented projects which should have been completed and alleviated public woes continued to hit snags for years during the previous government's tenure.

He issued directives for the early completion of all such ongoing projects.

The meeting was further briefed about the proposed Lahore-Sialkot Motorway link road to facilitate the people of Gujranwala.

The prime minister directed the Punjab caretaker chief executive to constitute a three-member committee that would give a detailed briefing on the project in the next meeting.