News
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
First private sector hydropower project opensPM seeks masses’ help on ‘critical challenges’
* Nawaz says govt’s energy is being wasted in tackling ‘additional issues’ like terrorism and energy crisis
* Refuses to give any time-frame for end to load shedding
FAISALABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday sought support of the masses to effectively tackle the “critical challenges” like terrorism and energy crisis.
“The problems we are facing today did not exit when we were in power in 1990 and 1997. Then there was no terrorism. There were no blasts and suicide attacks. There was no violence in Karachi and Quetta or the situation like in Peshawar and tribal areas,” he said while talking to newsmen here after a meeting with local traders and industrialists. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif were also present on the occasion.
Prime Minister Nawaz termed these problems “additional issues”. The critical issues like terrorism posed a serious challenge to the country’s security, he said and added that the government needed people’s support to tackle them. He said theses issues were consuming the energy of the government, which otherwise would have been used for the socio-economic development and prosperity. He said during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s government in the 1990s, the country had surplus electricity and was planning to export it to India.
On Monday, Nawaz inaugurated the first private sector bong escape 84 megawatts hydropower project built on the Jhelum River seven kilometres away from Mangla Dam in Azad Kashmir. Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said the project was a milestone in the country’s history and would pave way for construction of similar projects to cater to the power needs of various sectors of economy. He said the project will not only substantially improve power supply but also open new vistas of development, he added.
In response to a question about the time the government would take to address the energy crisis, Nawaz said he never gave time frames. He, however, added that as their direction was right and they were not involved in the corruption of even a penny, he was confident that the energy crisis would be tackled. “Whatever we are saying, we will implement and the results will be there,” he added. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the energy crisis had confined his government to addressing the power shortage instead of taking on plans for regional development and securing a key role and position in the regional development.
He said instead of the required focus on infrastructure development, boosting agricultural and industrial activities, amplifying exports, creating job opportunities for unemployed, development of an economic corridor from Kashgar to Gwadar and construction of highways and motorways linking Karachi, Lahore, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan with Central Asia, the government’s efforts and focus had been restricted only to addressing the energy issue. “It (energy) has become a big issue in Pakistan, with no respite for the masses as well as the government,” he remarked.
The prime minister, however, maintained that the government was planning to initiate large power projects and establish big power producing units. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk