PM has ordered third-party audit of all expenses: CM

Shahbaz Sharif urges media to desist from criticising govt

LAHORE:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered a third-party audit of all expenses incurred by the government, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters at a media talk, Sharif said Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif would hold a press conference to shed light on the Nandipur Power Project. “I have asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a couple of times to take notice of financial malpractice in the project.

However, I cannot order the bureau as it is a federal entity,” the chief minister said.

He insisted that power projects were being completed quickly and load-shedding would be significantly reduced by early 2018.

The chief minister rejected critique of the Qauid-i-Azam Solar Park by a section of the media emphasising the transparent completion of the project. “It’s a 100-megawatt project. A section of the media has been claiming that it is producing only 10 to 12 megawatts.

The capacity of solar projects across the world is 17 to 19 per cent. This includes those in Germany, India and the United States.

Its average production in the Punjab is 17 megawatts which goes up to 80 megawatts during peak sunlight hours.

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Its production is contingent on sunlight,” he said.

Sharif said China had installed solar power projects to generate 35,000 megawatts followed by Germany which generated 34,000 megawatts. “Even India produces 4,500 megawatts by using solar energy,” he said.

The chief minister stressed that the Qauid-i-Azam Solar Park was the only project in which the lowest bidder had been asked to lower the cost by Rs2 billion. “Our government has saved some Rs18 billion by asking lowest bidders to further reduce costs in various projects,” he said.

Sharif said the project had been completed in the short span of six months.

He said the prime minister would unveil projects to generate 3,600 megawatts within two weeks. Sharif said the Punjab would finance the generation of 1,200 megawatts out of these.

The chief minister urged the media to desist from criticising the government just for the sake of criticism. “In the event of any financial malpractice, complaints can be taken to courts but do not orchestrate a media trial. I am a cancer survivor.

I have devoted my life to serving the people,” Sharif said.

He said work on a 1,300 megawatt-coal-fired project in Sahiwal was in progress. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2015.