KPK government defends Imran on helicopter issue

The provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday stuck to its guns that party chief Imran Khan never used an official helicopter for personal trips and used it whenever he accompanied the chief minister to attend public interest events. Talking to Business Recorder exclusively from Peshawar by telephone, Shah Farman, the spokesman for PTI's provincial government, said that the party is ready to defend Imran Khan at any forum on this matter.
"He [Imran Khan] did accompany the chief minister and any other provincial ministers, for which the chief minister is authorized to allow use of helicopter, if there is an important official engagement and the cost is borne by the provincial government," he added.
According to Shah, during the last four and half years, the provincial government used official helicopters for 725.45 hours, while Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa used official choppers for 512.6 hours. He contended that the PTI provincial government will prove that official choppers were not used by Imran Khan, but added "we also demand a similar inquiry into the use of official helicopters in other provinces".
MNA Ali Muhammad Khan, a senior PTI leader, said the party welcomes the inquiry ordered by the top anti-graft body and added "we also expect National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to expand such inquires into other provinces in order to check misuse of official choppers."
He contended that all the payments for the official choppers were made by the provincial government as it is the prerogative of the chief minister who had used the helicopters for official visits during which Imran Khan accompanied the chief minister. A senior NAB official at NAB directorate in Peshawar, said that an impartial inquiry into the matter will be carried out as per law.
According to reports, PTI chief used the KP government's helicopter for a total of 74 hours to travel approximately 18,000 kilometres without making any payment. The provincial government recorded in its books a total expense of Rs 2.1 million at the rate of approximately Rs 28,865 per hour for Imran Khan's 40 trips on two helicopters - an Mi-171 and an Ecureuil.
Imran Khan used the Mi-171 for 21 hours 50 minutes on 12 trips amounting to a recorded expense of Rs 1,270,307. And used the Ecureuil helicopter 28 times for a total of 52 hours and 5 minutes, amounting to a recorded expense of Rs 836,875. Imran Khan used the two helicopters for a total of 73 hours and 55 minutes, resulting in an expense of Rs 2,107,181, recorded by the provincial government.