Loadshedding protest: Shahbaz Sharif shifts office to Minar-e-Pakistan

Sharif says for people of Pakistan, it is not about the livelihood anymore, but about their survival.


Sidrah Moiz June 01, 2012
Loadshedding protest: Shahbaz Sharif shifts office to Minar-e-Pakistan

LAHORE: In a bid to protest against the ongoing power crisis in the province, Chief Minister Punjab shifted his office to Minar-e-Pakistan ground on Friday.

Speaking to the media at the ground, Sharif said that for the people of Pakistan, “it is not about the livelihood anymore, but about their survival.”

He said, “Ali Baba and 40 thieves have destroyed the economy of Pakistan.”

“We are sitting under Minar-e-Pakistan to address the plights of the people. They do not have electricity and they have to face water shortage, due to that they cannot bathe, they are sleepless.”

He said that on Friday people could not perform ablution to say prayers because there was no water available due to the ongoing energy crisis.

“I can suggest how to end this power crisis,” said the chief minister. “End the $400 billion circular debt by bringing back the plundered money that is deposited in Swiss courts.”

He further said, “The money swindled in the National Reconciliation Ordinance case, the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) land scam, the rental power case, the Hajj scam the extravagant spending of the government, could be used to curb the growing power crisis.”

The chief minister said that the 700MW of energy that Punjab has been deprived of should be returned to the province.

COMMENTS (72)

Maryyam | 12 years ago | Reply

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has claimed that load shedding has caused his province a loss of Rs 500 billion that has rendered hundreds of thousands of people jobless and made fields barren. I would like to ask him why he has not established any power policy to attract local and foreign investment and set up plants when the 18th Amendment allows provinces to generate electricity on their own. Two years ago, he signed an agreement with a Chinese company to build a 140 MW hydropower plant at Taunsa Barrage. However, people of Pakistan like me have yet to see progress on the project. There were also a number of hydropower projects allotted to private companies to build power plants on canals and rivers in Punjab. Why have these projects not been built during the last four years? It seems that the PML-N government in Punjab has been spending billions of rupees on Sasti Roti, Ashiana Housing and laptop distribution schemes to win political popularity but it is ignoring the actual problems being faced by the people. Perhaps the PML-N has deliberately not taken any steps to solve the energy shortage problem to damage the credibility of the PPP-led coalition government at the Centre. The federal government, on the other hand, is using a political gimmick to cover its own inability of finding a potent solution for the energy shortage problem in the country by assigning provinces the ability to generate their own power.

Zubair | 12 years ago | Reply You are seriously delusional. Protest for what? Has PML-N not being in power for at least 4 years in Punjab? Protest against whom? Against themselves for not doing anything?? You should know Karachi is doing better as far as electricity is concerned, if Karachi can do it why not Lahore at least? (Don’t tell me Karachi gets all the resources) Making fools of the fools once again and you are one of them! Happy to see people not take khadam-e-aala’s statements seriously, such is his credibility outside the circle of the delusional
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