News
Saturday, August 06, 2011
President takes notice of power shortage
ISLAMABAD: Taking serious notice of continuing power shortage in the country, President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday, directed three key ministers dealing with the subject to sort out administrative, financial and technical issues amongst themselves and submit a report to him early next week on viable options.
Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the president especially called Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar and Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain to the Presidency for a presentation on problems and issues in the power sector. “The chronic energy shortage has become a critical issue,” the president said, and added that a political government, which was accountable to people, could not ignore the lingering crisis.
The meeting was informed that during the three-year period beginning from March 2008 to July 2011, 3,400 MW of power had been added to the national grid but there was still a gap of almost 4,500 MW between supply and demand during the peak of summers.
The president, during the meeting, also called for stepped up measures to address the problem of power shortage in Karachi. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk