“The construction of Dasu Dam will start soon at a cost of $4 billion,” Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday.
He said the government wanted to resolve the energy crisis and had undertaken several projects in this regard.
He was talking to World Bank Country Director Rashid bin Masood who met him at Model Town.
It was agreed during the meeting that World Bank would enhance its cooperation with the government in development projects of various sectors. World Bank water resource expert Masood Ahmad was also present.
Sharif said World Bank’s cooperation in energy, education, health, agriculture and irrigation was very important for the government.
He said the government had started a number of welfare programmes. The chief minister said the resources saved under austerity policy were being spent on public welfare. He said social and economic development was on top of the government’s agenda. He said thousands of workers had been laid off due to the energy crisis and its resolution was necessary for the revival of the national economy.
He said the government wanted to complete all projects on merit and by ensuring transparency. He said it was important to maintain good governance so that foreign investors were not afraid of investing in projects in Pakistan.
He said resources for early completion of energy projects had been provided.
Sharif said that work on the first solar power project of Pakistan was underway in Bahawalpur. He said 100 megawatt electricity would be generated by December 2014 and 1000 megawatts would be produced in another two years through solar power projects.
The chief minister said Nandipur power project had been revived and was near completion. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would inaugurate the project later this month.
He said the government had made plans to start small hydel power projects at various places and a comprehensive mechanism would be evolved with the cooperation of World Bank in this regard.
Sharif said projects like Dasu Dam should have been started many years ago but previous governments ignored them.
Masood said World Bank would continue cooperation with the government in energy, small hydel projects, agriculture, irrigation and education sectors. He said expressed satisfaction on the pace of work on the ongoing programmes in agriculture and irrigation sectors.
Minister for Agriculture Farrukh Javed, Minister for Irrigation Yawar Zaman and the chief secretary were also present.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2014.