Do more: ‘Capacity-building of Minerals Dept needed’

Chief minister orders that a Coal Pricing Board be set up immediately

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed displeasure on Monday with the minerals secretary saying that serious efforts had apparently not been made for human resource development and capacity-building at the department.

“A steering committee should be tasked with giving recommendations for reorganisation of the department,” the chief minister told a meeting that approved various institutional reforms at the Minerals Department.



Sharif said the department held the key to a strong economy. He asked the authorities to devise a plan to run the department on a corporate model. He also ordered that resource mapping of mineral reserves across the province be conducted in accordance with international standards.

“Institutional reforms should be introduced on a war footing. Officials of the Minerals Department will have to give the obsolete systems and work in a more efficient manner,” he said.

The chief minister favoured introducing a scientific system for leasing mineral sites. He said licences for exploration of minerals should be issued in a transparent manner.

Sharif noted that there was a huge potential for foreign investment in the minerals sector. “It is responsibility of the department to facilitate the investors,” he said.

The chief minister said safety of miners came first. He called for sending mining experts abroad for modern training. He said the model of Punjab Mineral Company should be replicated in other institutions.

Sharif said he would review the reforms introduced in the department every month. He ordered that a Coal Pricing Board be set up immediately.

Minerals Minister Chaudhry Sher Ali, the Planning and Development Board chairman, the energy additional chief secretary and minerals and finance secretaries attended the meeting.

Coal power

Ali said a 300 megawatt coal-based power plant would be completed in Salt Range by 2018.

“There are 600 million tonnes of coal reserves in Salt Range… use of clean coal technology is essential for the generation of electricity,” the minister said at a seminar, titled Role of Coal in Resolving Energy Crisis in Pakistan.

The Punjab University Centre for Coal Technology had arranged the seminar.

Ali said mining was a difficult job and that modern techniques were needed to explore coal reserves. He said conserving energy was the need of the hour. He said the equipment ensuring uninterruptible power supply (UPS) wasted significant amount of electricity. “Consumers should not use UPS devices during winters,” he said.

Earlier, Centre for Coal Technology Director Shahid Munir briefed the audience. He said that according to the International Institute of Energy, Pakistan would have to generate 49,000 megawatt by 2025 to meet the demand. “Pakistan is spending $20 billion on the purchase of furnace oil. It has vast reserves of coal; focus should be on producing electricity using coal,” he said.

Vice Chancellor Mujahid Kamran, MPA Farzana Nazir, teachers and a large number of students attended the seminar.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2015.