LAHORE: The government has spent millions of rupees in publishing advertisements in the print media on the energy crisis, thinking that the masses can be fooled by the logic it provides for its inefficient and pathetic performance. One can only pity the government for not leaving any stone unturned.
Unfortunately, the government lacks the capability to plan proactively. The reasons given for the energy crisis are inter-alia, reduced water availability, high temperatures for the month of October and shortfalls in fuel and gas supplies.
In the same breath, the government has claimed corrective measures of Rs10 billion for additional fuel, increased gas supply, improvement in load management, and last but not least, redirecting fuel to the most efficient power plants (presumably in Benazirabad and Multan).
The advertisement has also posed a question in the end as to who is responsible for the present power crisis. It most definitely is not the government if they have to ask us so. If the current government had followed through on basic provisions to the populace, then perhaps, there would have been no need for such advertisements.
Salman Babar
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.
