Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif laid the foundation stone on Saturday for the Bab-e-Pakistan project and an upgrade to Walton Road in Lahore where the project that has been in the works for over a decade is to be constructed.
Bab-e-Pakistan is meant to be a national monument built on the site of one of the major Muslim refugee camps which operated in the aftermath of the independence of Pakistan.
At the ceremony on Saturday, the PM said: "This place reminds us of the millions of people who migrated here. People braved difficulties and there is no example in history regarding sacrifices rendered by children and women.
This led to the creation of our country. Thousands of migrants stayed at this point in Walton."
He said the project had begun in 1997. “We were supposed to make this venue a place to visit for international and local visitors".
But according to him billions of rupees were misappropriated in relation to the construction of the project, and he asked if the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) "looked into the elements who indulged in corruption in this project?”
He added there are several other projects that were lost to corruption but no action has been taken.
He thanked the National Logistics Cell chairman and expressed hope he would work round the clock to complete the project.
“I request caretaker Punjab CM Mohsin Naqvi to support this project and so will other departments. This is not a 10-15 year delay. This is a 20-25 years delay. I urge everyone to play their role and complete this project collectively.”
The memorial was proposed in 1985 by the late governor Ghulam Jilani Khan. It has been designed by a Lahore-based architect Amjad Mukhtar who is a graduate from the National College of Arts, Lahore. The monument has an area of 117 acres and is meant to comprise a memorial block, library, park, museum, auditorium and art gallery.
PM Shehbaz has been keen on the project for many years. In 2009, when he was chief minister of Punjab, he had lamented over its delay and noted that the Punjab government was promoting a culture of austerity and using indigenous material instead of importing marble worth more than Rs 700 million.
In 2015, also as CM, he had directed officials to take immediate measures for the project's early completion.
He had said at the time that it was a national obligation to promote awareness in the new generation regarding the Pakistan Movement and objectives of the creation of the country.