Coal-power plants: Timely completion of coal plants assured

Chinese company says it has placed orders for procurement of machinery needed in construction of two plants in Sahiwal

LAHORE:

Work is underway on two coal-based power plants in Sahiwal. Orders have been placed for purchase of equipment needed in the construction phase, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was told at auto review progress on the construction of the power plants on Monday.

He was told that the company was in the process of procuring turbines, power generators and boilers needed at the construction site.

The provincial government has given the contract for construction of the plants with a combined power generation capacity of 1,320 megawatts to a Chinese power company, Hauneng Shandong. Hauneng Shandong president and other senior managers joined the meeting through a video-link.

The chief minister told the meeting that timely completion of work on the coal power plants was of vital importance to the province. “It will be crucial to overcoming energy crisis,” he said.

Sharif said instructions had been issued to all provincial government departments concerned to prioritise matters pertaining to the project.

The chief minister said that he would personally oversee progress on the project to ensure that the plants start supplying electricity to the national grid by 2017. He also invited the Hauneng Shandong group president to visit the construction site in Sahiwal.

Home Minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera, the energy additional chief secretary, the home and energy department secretaries, the Punjab Power Development Company chairman, the Punjab Information Technology Board chairman and the Sahiwal commissioner were also present on the occasion.

‘Rural roads programme will speed up economic growth’

Infrastructure development is among the top priorities of the provincial government. Rural Roads Programme will speed up economic growth in the province, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Monday.

He was chairing a meeting to review progress on the project.

He directed officials concerned to ensure that transparency in completion of the project.

He said the Khadim-i-Punjab Rural Roads Programme was a unique project. He said that it was the biggest such project in the 68 years history of the country. He said that quality infrastructure was needed for speedy development.

Sharif said special attention should be paid to maintenance of roads constructed under the programme.



In particular, he said weight standards should be enforced on goods transport vehicles using the roads.

The chief minister called upon the road construction companies to step up their performance to ensure that roads constructed under the programme were of high quality. He said an independent authority would soon be set up to oversee implementation of the project.

Provincial Ministers Tanvir Aslam Malik and Farrukh Javed, members of provincial assembly, the Planning and Development Board chairman were present at the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2015.