K-P says no to Centre’s energy-saving plan

Barrister Saif says further consultations are underway to make a final decision

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has announced not to implement the federal government’s energy conservation plan and said that a final decision would be made after further consultations on the matter.

Special Assistance to Chief Minister K-P on Information and PR, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that the provincial government was not taken into confidence on the energy conservation policy and K-P had already introduced several steps on its own for energy conservation.

He said that the provincial government was already working on decreasing pollution.

“We have not been consulted about the closing of markets and shops. K-P is engaged in large scale solarisation and working on introducing LED lights. We have yet to make a final decision on the issue,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday announced the incumbent government's plan to save energy and reduce its consumption nationwide.

A federal cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in which important decisions related to energy saving were approved, including the decision to close markets at 8:30 pm and marriage halls at 10 pm.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Khawaja Asif said that we need to "change our lifestyle" and stated that the energy conservation plan approved by the cabinet is to be implemented throughout the country.

“This policy will save us Rs60 billion," Asif maintained.

He noted that many countries were already running on energy-efficient models, however, Pakistan’s markets and offices remained open past midnight.

The defence minister furthered that the production of fans running on electricity will be stopped by July. He stated that inefficient fans use around 120-130 watts of electricity, and globally fans consuming less energy were available.

He added that the import duty on “inefficient” fans would be increased.

Asif also revealed that after February 1 incandescent bulbs would not be manufactured and additional taxes will be imposed on the ones that were imported. He stated that an additional Rs22 billion could be saved by the initiative.

“No lights were on in the cabinet meeting today. The meeting was held in full sunlight,” he said, providing an example for the country to follow.

He said that the federal cabinet planned to conserve 30% of the electricity used by government departments, which would save Rs62 billion. The plan includes all government and court buildings, officers and housing societies.

Asif also said that the government had decided to use street lights alternatively which he claimed would save Rs4 billion.

Additionally, the cabinet decided that only half of all street lights would remain powered on across the nation which would save Rs4 billion, the minister claimed.

The minister also disapproved of shops opening at noon or 1 pm, and maintained that the nation should make use of the natural sunlight and maximise its use in homes as well.

Moreover, the government is to make the use of conical geysers mandatory within a year as they used less gas than traditional geysers and could help save Rs92 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2023.