The Sindh government has formed a three-member body to pave way for the implementation of the decisions taken in the National Energy Conference (NEC) recently held by the federal government in Lahore.
According to highly-placed sources, the committee has been constituted by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to negotiate and take onboard all the shareholders in the Sindh province with regard to the federal government’s energy conservation efforts. The committee comprises Sindh Power and Information Minister Shazia Marri and advisors to the Sindh Chief Minister, Zubair Motiwala and Rashid Rabbani. The information minister confirmed that she was part of the three-member body which, she said, was formed by the Sindh CM for holding a dialogue with the stakeholders. The dialogue, Marri said, would aim at convincing the stakeholders to implement the Sindh government’s energy conservation efforts in light of the NEC. The provincial minister said the committee would be holding a series of meetings with all the stakeholders in the province to achieve the desired results. Although not sure about the exact date, Marri said the body could come in action within the next couple of days. The Sindh government move came after the traders and industrialists in the commercial capital of the country, expressed strong reservations over the Lahore energy moot which, they claimed, took place without them being taken into confidence.
On Monday, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Mian Abrar Ahmed told a pre-budget seminar at the Karachi Press Club that his side had strong reservations over the so-called national energy event. The KCCI president said he had shared with those concerned his reservations over the conference as the KCCI was not consulted by anyone. Mian Abrar urged the need for an ‘energy security plan’ for at least next 20 years that, he claimed, the country had not been provided since the last 64 years. The industrialist also warned that energy crises along with other lingering problems like the poor law and order situation, was leading to the ‘flight of industries’ to Dubai and African countries from Pakistan.