Empty promises: Load shedding has exposed the govt, says Wattoo

Wattoo recalled that government had promised that they would reduce load shedding within months, not even years.

LAHORE:

The minister for water and power’s statement informing people that there will be no relief in load shedding this summer has exposed the government’s failure and lost its credibility, PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattooo said on Saturday.

Wattoo said the government had promised that they would reduce load shedding within months, not even years. He said the agonising hours of load shedding had exposed the claims.

He said protests against electricity outages across the country showed the government’s ineptitude, which could no longer be hidden behind the smokescreen of sponsored surveys.

Wattoo said the PPP had managed load shedding by ensuring uninterrupted supply o to tube wells, reducing load shedding during the night, and prioritising industry over domestic consumers. He said they had managed the supply of electricity by keeping the requirements of each sector and the national economy in mind.

Wattoo said the situation had worsened because people now faced unscheduled load shedding.

Where is the Shahbaz Sharif who boasted that he would end load shedding?  Wattoo asked.

Wattoo said the government should face the wrath of the people who were becoming increasingly frustrated with their ‘pro-capitalist and anti-people’ policies. He said this was a government by the capitalists, of the capitalists and for the capitalists.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2014.