Previous govts must be held accountable for crises: PM

Lays bare plans to revive national institutions, including the national air carrier

FAISALABAD: Previous governments must be held accountable for the energy and economic crisis that plunged the country into darkness and made it lose its distinctive status as one of South Asia’s better performing economies, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday.

His remarks came at a gathering after performing the inaugural ceremony of a 40-megawatt coal-fired power project at Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd (SCIL) . The power plant is the largest of its kind in Faisalabad’s industrial sector.

The prime minister unveiled the project’s plaque that was completed in 27 months, costing Rs3.5 billion.

“In the 1960s, we were ahead of South Korea in (terms of) development. In the 1990s, we were (considered one of) the best in the region. In 1999, we were the top (performing) economy in South Asia but (regrettably) in 2013, we stood last,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister said a dictator ruled the country for seven years before a five-year term by another government.

“They will have to account for their actions. History will never forgive them,” the prime minister remarked.

The prime minister said that investment was increasing both in public and private sectors after the government successfully tackled the challenges of energy crisis and terrorism.

The prime minister said the government was also striving for lowering the cost of power generation, thereby reducing its prices and increasing the country’s exports.

“Now … work on the Lahore-Multan-Sukkur Motorway is underway. Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (section) is also being constructed. Work on Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway will start by the end of this year or early next year. Subsequently, we will be proud to have a motorway from Karachi to Peshawar,” the prime minister said. He said highways and motorways were also being built all over Balochistan, adding that the Hazara Motorway, being built in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, would be completed by next year.

Expressing optimism about improving the national economic outlook, he said several other hydroelectric, coal, solar and wind power plants were being installed across the country.

Referring to the government’s efforts for reviving national institutions, the prime minister said PIA would be revived as one of the world’s best airlines.

He said the government had launched work to tap the potential of coal reserves in Tharparkar, adding that it should have been exploited five decades ago.

He said the situation in Karachi was improving and voiced hope that the erstwhile economic hub of the country would regain its lost grandeur.

The prime minister said terrorism was not a minor issue. Expressing sympathies for the heirs of those who lost their lives in Thursday’s suicide blast, he said: “Officers and personnel of army, police and other security institutions have sacrificed their lives in combating terrorism.”

The government, he said, had already started working on the setting up 40 more state-of-the-art hospitals across the country.

In his welcome address, CEO of Sitara Chemical Industries Mian Idrees said SCIL would have 15 megawatts of surplus electricity that should either be purchased by Wapda or the company should be allowed to distribute it to its associate companies.

He also requested the government to launch work on the new Faisalabad airport besides seeking government support in setting up Aziz Fatima University.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2016.