Criticising the performance of Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET), the National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology said on Friday the organisation was not working on anything ‘renewable’ in terms of energy technologies.
The standing committee, chaired by Abdul Kadir Khanzada, was briefed about projects launched by PCRET. The committee said all solar power projects initiated by PCRET in Sindh had failed as none of them was currently working.
A subcommittee comprising MNA Anusha Rehman and MNA Zafar Beg Bhittani also filed its report regarding the embezzlement in construction of PCRET’s building. “PCRET has done nothing new as biogas and micro-hydel power plants were ideas of old ages. Nothing has been innovated by PCRET,” Rehman said.
Referring to some of the report’s findings, she told the committee that embezzlement and some serious financial irregularities had been detected in the construction of PCRET’s building. She said the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had also reported certain financial irregularities in the construction, which were still to be made public. However, Ministry of Science and Technology Secretary Akhlaq Akmed Tarar assured the committee that public money was not being wasted, adding that anyone found guilty would be held responsible.
Earlier, PCRET Director General Zafar Khokhar said the building’s construction had incurred a cost of Rs 180 million and the amount being termed as embezzlement was actually a rise in the cost of building material. The committee was also told that PCRET had planned around 100 micro-hydroelectric power projects in hilly areas of the country, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir which would cost around Rs 132.256 million. The director general said further the projects would generate 140KW of electricity and would accommodate around 150 houses, adding that 73 of the projects had been completed in time. He said the community was working on projects such as distribution lines, civil works and maintenance, turbines of which were being installed and financed by PCRET, adding that the organisation had also trained the community to look after these installations.
The committee chairman said such projects should also be designed for Punjab and machinery should be installed at canals in collaboration with the Provincial Irrigation Department. Tarar told the committee that the Punjab government was also working on the same lines and asked PCRET to help construction of micro-hydroelectric power plants, to be installed on canals.
