Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, flanked by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, addresses a press conference in Faisalabad. PHOTO: INP
Visibly disturbed by the ongoing energy crisis in the country and shaken by demonstrations in several parts of the country against power outages, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday conceded that he could not “give any time frame to eliminate the menace of load-shedding”.
“We have been confined within the compartment of the energy crisis only, but the country is facing equally big challenges such as terrorism, drone attacks and maintaining national sovereignty,” the prime minister told reporters.
“When I was in power in 1990 and 1997, the situation was entirely different. There was no concept of suicide attacks, bomb blasts, drone attacks, insecurity of national institutions,” he recalled.
The prime minister said that the worsening security situation was a result of unchecked activities of terrorists in Karachi, Quetta, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata. He said that this demanded the immediate attention of his government, but his government’s entire energies were being consumed by the electricity crisis.
“During electioneering, I never gave any time-frame for overcoming this issue and I still cannot give any time frame, I can only say that we are sincere in eradicating the menace of load-shedding,” Nawaz added.
Talking about the ills of the energy system, the premier said that the entire power distribution and supply system was “redundant and incapable of supplying uninterrupted electricity to the whole country”.
“Incidents of power system breakdowns, blasts in power transformers, huge line losses, unchecked stealing of power and gas are all impediments in the smooth flow of energy in the country,” he added.
Referring to his recent China visit, Nawaz sounded a note of optimism and said that Chinese investors would soon come to Pakistan and partner us for large investments in solar, hydel, gas, coal, and other sources to augment power production in the country.
Calling power thieves “black sheep,” the premier said that the crackdown against such elements would continue as he called upon all provincial governments and federal agencies to make coordinated efforts for eliminating incidents of gas and power theft.
Earlier, the prime minister inspected an industrial unit, Orient Textile Mill, on Faisalabad-Jhang Road where a special anti theft squad had detected stealing of 588 MMCF worth Rs270 million per annum. The prime minister appreciated DCO Faisalabad for detecting massive gas theft.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 16th, 2013.
COMMENTS (11)
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"Electricity issue: Power crisis burning up govt energy, says PM" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The PM inuagurated an 84 MW powerplant. The shortgap being 8400 MW he must inagurate ....how many more such power plants? No wonder his energies are burnt out.
Before election they were telling us that they have solution of every problem but after election they are just playing the role of a commentator.
Nawaz Shariff Zindabad
@"Orient Textile Mill, on Faisalabad-Jhang Road where a special anti theft squad had detected stealing of 588 MMCF worth Rs270 million per annum." . This is roughly 2 MMCFD. Assuming there are 100 mills doing the same practice, and there will be more than that, the number will go upto 200 MMCFD, which is around 10% of the gas demand-supply shortfall. . Apart from textiles, other industries are either also involved in gas theft or using it lavishly without any consideration to efficiency, which is an equal crime. . Rather than making the industry 'energy-efficient' and stopping the gas theft, business lobbies have been trying hard to scale down the CNG sector. And they are successful too in convincing the society as if the CNG sector is the biggest menace. CNG might not be a great idea but there positive also, such as saving of precious foreign exchange and lesser emissions. If used wisely CNG, e.g. in energy-efficient mass transport, can bring a positive change in the energy chain. . So imo there is a need to give a strong message to the industry - through energy audits - that the era of convenient and cheap gas is over and the industry should focus on energy efficiency if they want to make use of it sustainably.
hahahahaaa that's it, so soon? I thought you were going to take Pakistan to moon this time around
@yousafhaque: So you would be happy if he faked it like Asif?
"The prime minister said that the worsening security situation was a result of unchecked activities of terrorists in Karachi, Quetta, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata."
Has no one informed our dear Prime Minister about the terrorists harboring in south Punjab?
Unusually frank admission of the terrible terrible state of the country. But of course no one expects anyone to tell the truth in Pakistan especially not ruling politicians. So you have to wonder why they are saying this? Is the situation so bad that they don't expect to succeed and they are tempering expectations?
He didn't give any timetable, but his brother standing next to him, gave not one but three different time lines, It matters little that on every occasion where his younger brother came up with a new time table, Nawaz Sharif did little to correct him or clarify his own position before the elections. Moral of the story. Don't believe any one from PML(N) or Sharif Family except Nawaz Sharif himself. Because every thing else can be Josh-e-Khitabat.
Sorry sir,the words don't speak of a strong and determined P.M.They sound like that of a helpless man who has no clue of where to go.Not a good omen for the nation's future.God bless