With load shedding significantly increasing in the last few days, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday asked the Water and Power Ministry to devise methods to explore alternate energy sources to meet the country’s growing energy needs.
He gave the direction during a meeting with Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar at the Prime Minister’s House. These directions, however, appear a half-hearted attempt to resolve the power crisis, as PEPCO’s receivables from private consumers stand at Rs 70 billion while the organisation has been doing little to recover the outstanding dues.
Moreover, line losses also amount to Rs 70 billion, but there is no serious attempt to control that as well. Although the government has appointed new board of directors in all power distribution companies (DISCO), no attempt has been made by the government to appoint professional managing directors to help recover the outstanding amount of Rs 70 billion from the consumers.
Experts believe that only addressing the two issues would help the government clean up the energy mess. During the meeting with Qamar, the prime minister stressed on the need to consult respective organisations in developed countries to share their experience and asked the minister to formulate policies to augment public-private partnership and improve investment in the energy sector.
Qamar apprised the prime minister about various projects initiated by the ministry and also discussed with him the ongoing schemes in the prime minister’s constituency.
