The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has failed to provide any relief to the province’s people, State Water and Power Minister Abdi Sher Ali said on Wednesday.
He was addressing the participants of the inauguration ceremony of a 132-Kilo Volt (KV) grid station in Dera Ghazi Khan. The project has been completed at the cost of Rs300 million.
The minister said there would be no political change in the country before or soon after Eid, as some politicians were claiming. He said some political elements were trying to create anarchy in the country. “They are conspiring against development of Pakistan,” the minister said.
He said PTI chief Imran Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed should resign from their assembly seats. “How did they win their assembly seats if the 2013 elections were rigged? They are making up these claims to stir up unrest,” Ali said.
The minister said the PTI should focus on its performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and serve the people there as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was doing. “The PTI should discuss its grievances in the National Assembly and not on the streets,” he said. Ali said Imran Khan had a habit of making tall claims and then backtracking.
He said the PML-N government had added 1,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the system and built 18 new grid stations in various parts of the country. Ali said the government would provide 600MW of additional electricity to Balochistan. “The government will take all steps to overcome the energy crisis and provide electricity to the people at affordable rates,” the minister said.
He said China and Turkey were investing heavily in several sectors of Pakistan’s economy. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is committed to making Pakistan an economically vibrant country,” Ali said.
He said the whole country supported the army in its efforts to eliminate terrorists. “The government is spending billions of rupees everyday on the 0.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan,” Ali said. He urged all political parties to cooperate with the government in helping the IDPs.
The minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had released Rs45 billion for electricity projects in the country.
Earlier, Abid Sher Ali chaired a meeting of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) officials to address the problem of low voltage and unannounced loadshedding in southern Punjab.
The minister directed the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) to provide a 250 megavolt ampere (MVA) transformer for installation at a 220-kilovolt grid station in Bahawalpur and two electricity panels for the Kassowal grid station. The equipment would help address the problem of low voltage and frequent tripping in these areas.
Ali issued the orders after he was briefed by Mepco chief executive officer Muzaffar Ali Abbasi about the problems the company faced.
“The equipment will help reduce loadshedding in Bahawalpur, Chishtian, Haroonabad, Vehari and Sahiwal areas,” Ali said.
He said there was a lot of potential to produce electricity in the country. “Our biggest problem is the insufficient capacity of the distribution system, which is a hurdle in the way of providing uninterrupted power supply to people,” he said. He directed the Mepco officials to monitor employee performance at all levels.
The Mepco CEO informed the minister that over 100 faulty transformers had been replaced during the past week.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2014.