ISLAMABAD – It is seems that Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar is completely out of touch with the affairs of his ministry, as he thinks that mere enhancement of fuel supplies alone would not resolve the generation woes of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO). Talking to the media at the conclusion of Pakistan Energy Conference 2011 in Islamabad on Tuesday, he warned that the electricity demand would shoot up in summer, resulting in increased load shedding. When asked about PEPCO MD Rasul Khan Mehsud’s claim that the outages could end in a day if complete fuel and gas supplies were provided, he replied that he was unable to understand the claim as mere enhancement of fuel supplies alone would not resolve the problem.
“We need to enhance power, make it more affordable, improve power distribution, reduce the line losses and above all eliminate the circular debt.” “We are working on a plan to resolve the circular debt issue and regularise fuel supplies,” he added. The minister replied in negative, when asked that the Pakistan State Oil had written a letter to him warning that non recovery of dues could force the company to cancel all the tenders for May. “I have not received the letter which was published in some newspapers today.”
However, he assured that there would be no shortage of fuel. “The fuel supplies will be further smooth with the resolution of circular debt.”
Meanwhile, Naveed brushed aside the corruption allegations by the PML-N’s MNAs in purchase of new transformers and said the existing transformers were being replaced with the new ones having latest specifications to reduce the line losses.
He was responding to a calling attention notice moved jointly by Abid Sher Ali, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Mian Marghoob Ahmad, Pervaiz Malik and Afzal Khokhar who claimed that the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) purchased the new transformers at exorbitant price but they were not installed yet. They saw corruption in the purchase process. Naveed said the procurement of transformers had been delayed for a few months after a dispute between the PEPCO and various Distribution Companies (DISCOs).
“According to the PEPCO and other independent consultants, the transformers with new design and specifications would reduce transmission losses by 27 per cent in 200-KV transformers and 23 percent in smaller ones which resulted in high prices’ purchase,” he added.
The minister said the companies dealing with the old transformers were creating confusion over the issue for their own interests.
