Owner of Husnain
Construction Company reveals all in a Press Conference
Musharraf's
Close Relative Paid in Rs 7bn Motorway project
Special
SAT Report
ISLAMABAD:
The first solid proof of involvement of General Pervez Musharraf’s
close relative, his son Bilal’s father in law, in a multi-billion
rupee road construction contract, has come to light.
The
proof was provided by the owner of the construction company, Husnain
Construction, at a news conference at the M-3 Motorway site near
Islamabad last week. Surprisingly it has remained buried without
any discussion in the mainstream Pakistani media, although leading
newspaper Dawn published portions of
the incriminating statement on Sept 26 in a very subdued manner,
hiding the disclosures under a positive statement by the National
Highway Authority Chairman, Major General Farrukh Javed. Click
Here to read Dawn Report
In
just under 5 weeks after SA Tribune
broke the scandal of General Musharraf’s “Golfway”
Project, a mix of the Rs 25 billion Golf Course in Lahore and
the Rs 7 billion Pindi-Peshawar Motorway, Brig (Retd) Aftab Siddiqui’s
was confirmed to be the big beneficiary. The proof came from the
Horse Owner’s mouth, if not the Horse himself.
The
SA Tribune first reported in our Aug
26 issue that Musharraf's "Golfway" project, conceived
and launched by an ex-ISI chief, held secret from the public for
‘national security reasons’ had a real connection
with his close relatives. http://www.satribune.com/archives/aug26_sep1_02/P1_Grapevinecomm.htm
On
Sept 9, it was reported that the in-laws of Musharraf’s
son were reportedly flying out of Pakistan “lock, stock
and barrel” after their names were revealed in the Motorway
project. http://www.satribune.com/archives/sep09_15_02/P1_Grapewinecomm.htm
These
were Sa Tribune reports. Now comes the
surprising statement by Sheikh Yousaf, owner of Husnain Construction,
which is the contractor for the Pindi-Peshawar Motorway project,
also known as M-3. He spoke to journalists at a Press conference
and admitted everything, as reported in Pakistan’s leading
Daily ‘Dawn’ on Sept 25, 2002.
Dawn’s
Islamabad Staff reporter said: “Sheikh Yousaf explained
the phases for which his company passed for converting the M-3
project from the Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) plan to the
government funded project.”
“When
asked as to how much his company had been helped by Brig (Retd)
Aftab Siddiqui father-in-law (of General Musharraf’s son),
Bilal Musharraf, he said the gentleman had worked with his company
as a consultant.”
“Mr
Yousaf said it was originally agreed that he would get two per
cent of the profit from the project for 25 years, but since the
project had been converted to a government funded plan, Aftab
Siddiqui was no longer with his company. The cost of M-3 is Rs7
billion.”
“He,
however, said Mr Siddiqui had been paid for the 'services' which
he rendered, but refused to give more details... Everything was
documented, and the payments to Mr Siddiqui had been made through
cheques the copies of which had been provided to "a number
of government departments," he said.”
The
Dawn report then added a dramatic twist:
“Then his son (Sheikh Yousaf’s son) rushed to the
stage and asked Mr Yousaf not to answer more queries on the subject.”
Still,
“Mr Yousaf said the company was heading the consortium of
the Pakistani construction companies called PAMIC, and added that
they were completing the project to show that the country had
the expertise to construct the motorway. He said it was the first
contract of its kind which had no escalation clause.”
“When
asked as to how many projects his company had fetched in the period
of military government, he avoided giving straight answer, and
said that whatever his company had got was on merit. He admitted
that he had purchased about a dozen sick industrial units.”
The
dramatic Press conference raised a plethora of questions which
are begging for answers. The Chairman of the company confirmed
that Bilal’s father in law “had been paid for his
services”, which in other words means he had delivered his
part of the contract. And since he is no longer with the Company,
it can be safely guessed that he is enjoying the two per cent
somewhere, may be in US.
Sheikh
Yousaf, revealed that Bilal’s Father-in-Law had been paid
through cheques and copies had been given to various departments
of the Government. That would make the job of future Accountability
Bureaus much easier, it seems.
Then
he was asked a very pertinent question. How many contracts his
company had fetched during the Musharraf Regime? This apparently
puzzled him and he could not give a straight answer. He still
did not realize that some smart reporter was trying to trap him.
But his son rushed to the stage and stopped him from making more
disclosures.
But
his answer, reported in Dawn, at least gave an insight of how
much they had already made. “He admitted that he had purchased
about a dozen sick industrial units,” was his reply to one
question. This seems to be an impressive record which would beat
any Sharif or Zardari hands down.
However
many questions are now being raised. What are the rates at which
he has purchased these units? Who else bid for them? What were
the terms of purchase? Was there any competitive bidding? Was
any undue government influence used for these purchases? What
was the role of Bilal Musharraf’s father-in-law in these
purchases? Is this not corruption? Is this what General Musharraf
means by good governance?
