1,700MW to be added to grid by year end: PM

Gilani says about 2,000MW have been added to the power-generation system.

KARACHI: Rental power plants will add 1,700 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by the end of this year, announced Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday while visiting the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Clifton. So far 1,704MW have been added.

About 2,000MW have been added to the power-generation system, he said, warning, however, that demand is also increasing because of population growth.

To a question, he said that law and order was a provincial subject and that the provincial leadership was chalking out a line of action to deal with the situation. “I want to clarify here that no operation is being carried out either against any group or in any specific area,” he added. The federal government would assist if need be. The PM condemned terrorism and said that only a handful of people were behind such acts and out to disturb the peace and destabilise the country for their own agenda.

When a reporter referred to Federal Minister Dr Babar Awan talking to Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Gilani said that there was no harm in having a meeting with the PML-Q leaders; it was part of Benazir Bhutto’s reconciliation policy. When he was elected there was total unanimity in the House and the PML-Q’s votes had also made him PM. For this government, the politics of reconciliation would continue. There are, after all, coalition governments in all the provinces.

“It is a good omen that we have an alliance with all political parties in the country,” he said. “Tell me if we don’t have a coalition with any [one] political party.”

To another question, the PM said that the judiciary was playing its role. “We respect all institutions,” he added. The prime minister said that the government wanted to establish a federal court in Islamabad but before this the judiciary would be taken into confidence. “We will not take any step, which leads to a misunderstanding between the judiciary and government,” he said.

Meeting with Sindhi media

Additionally, the construction of the Kalabagh Dam would not go ahead unless all provinces agreed to it and it has become a “dead issue”. “If consensus evolves among all the provinces and the Council of Common Interest gives permission, then the dam can be built,” he added. But construction of the Bhasha Dam would start soon as the provinces had agreed.

The PM said this while talking to editors and CEOs of Sindhi newspapers and television channels at a meeting at Chief Minister House.

The objective of his visit to the city was to directly interact with the Sindhi media. The prime minister said that he had done media studies which is why he had a “personal emotional attachment” to the media. Journalism studies have benefitted him in the field of politics, he added.

Gilani said that the process of transition from a dictatorship toward democracy is under way in the country and institutions are also passing through a phase of evolution. We faced different challenges but never deviated from the manifesto of the party, he said. Some people were talking about the accountability of the government. “I request them to please give us five years and let the people decide in the upcoming elections,” he said.

A meeting would be held in Lahore on Wednesday, when Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would give a briefing about the breakthroughs achieved in his recent visit to the US.

Gilani said that the economic recession has affected the entire globe but Pakistan had survived as, fortunately it is an agricultural country. He added that the matter of Thar coal has also been resolved and the provincial government is working on it.

The Sindhi media informed the PM about their problems and he said that he would talk to the federal minister for information and broadcasting on meeting them. To a suggestion about the performance of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Gilani said that he would also meet the newly appointed MD.

There are 35 Sindhi dailies and 10 to 12 private Sindhi television channels.

With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2010.