June 26, 2015
News
Govt offers Sindh compensation for heatwave victims
By Zeeshan GhayurISLAMABAD: The ruling legislators expressed sorrow over Karachi deaths due to the heatwave on Thursday and offered compensation, if requested by Sindh government.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk moved motions on Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal Bill, Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers and National University of Medical Sciences, which were unanimously adopted. Later, he moved a motion on the heatwave in Karachi that has taken many lives. Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif said, “The deaths in Karachi and Tharparkar are a huge tragedy”.
He said this is a phenomenon of climate change, but K-Electric has been negligent too. He said among the dead are mostly those who were working under the scorching sun. “There is a scarcity of graves because the Sindh government has been practicing China Cutting while selling off graveyards to housing societies,” Asif added. “I contacted National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday and directed it to take notice of K-Electric by formulating a committee for probing the matter upon which a committee was formulated and the investigation has begun,” Asif added.
He said K-electric was sold to a Saudi group in 2005 and during the tenure of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) it was sold to a new owner in 2008 where less than 25 percent of share was held by the federal government. “If the House wish we can file a law suit against both the agreements”, Asif added. He said Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company limited (PTCL) were also privatized by PPP regime.
He said before reaching a new agreement with K-electric it will be presented before National Assembly (NA) for debate and for reaching a consensus. “The new agreement will take under consideration the welfare of Karachi”, Asif added. He said the federal government does not wish to reverse the already privatised companies. Asif said K-electric holds the capacity of generating 900 mega watts (MW) of hydropower electricity however it is not. “Rather the entity is more interested in purchasing cheap 650MW from the federal government”, Asif added. He said earlier we had filed a suit against K-electric but the entity came back with a stay order of Sindh High Court.
He said we are now going to appeal for the same with citing Karachi incident in Supreme Court. Speaking on line theft he said this does not happen unless the workers of Pakistan Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) are involved. For curbing this he said the MNAs should develop social pressure in their constituencies and ensure that line thieves are caught and brought to justice. Speaking about Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, he said that it was scheduled for completion by 2011 however “I took the case against it in the court because the equipment procured was rotting, exchange differences were massive while the plant was not able to generate electricity as per our desires,” Asif added.
He said the plant has already produced electricity worth Rs 5 billion but it should have done better. “The plant will generate electricity on its full capacity by the end of the year,” Asif added. He said the plant will generate 500MW. “We have secured a long term agreement price that is below 14 percent of the “brent” which is the lowest in Asia”, Asif added. He said with the introduction of LNG the tariffs for electricity would fall throughout the country. He said the price secured is 20 percent less than Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), 30 percent less than Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO), 50 percent less than Diesel.
Asif said that in the earlier session of NA, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Asad Umer said the figures quoted did not match with Economic Survey. “This was because I quoted figures for 12 months rather than the 9 month figures quoted in the Economic Survey”, Asif added. Speaking about Nandipur, he said currently three turbines are operational while one turbine is being tested for efficiency and Rs 4 billion has been spent on improvements. Lashing out at KP government, he said “We asked them for providing us with details as to where hydropower power projects could be set up for generating more energy at less costs but they have so far failed to respond,” Asif added.
Asif said the incumbent regime is spreading a massive network of transmission lines across the country. “China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will bring for Pakistan 8,000MW on two major transmission lines scheduled for completion by 2017,” Asif added. “The tariffs for wind and solar power are dropping and we desire for securing the lowest rates so that we can sell at low tariffs for the welfare of the nation”. Asif added.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk