‘Nobody kept their promise!’

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that non-implementation on the decision of equal load shedding throughout the country taken in the energy conference is lamentable. He warned that the injustice being meted out to Punjab regarding load shedding would not be tolerated. He urged that equal load shedding and other decision of the energy conference should be implemented completely. He disclosed that a joint meeting of Chambers Of Commerce and Industries, Trade and Agriculture has been convened on Tuesday in which traders, industrialists and elected representatives of districts effected by load-shedding will also attend the meeting.
He said the energy crisis is the result of plundering of corrupt rulers. He was presiding over a meeting of Energy Implementation Committee, here on Sunday. Members National Assembly Khurram Dastagir Khan, Pervaiz Malik, Punjab Investment Board vice chairman, secretary energy, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice chairman and other concerned officers attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the implementation on the decisions of energy conference and expressed its concern over non-implementation of decision of energy conference regarding equal load shedding all over the country.
Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz said the energy crises had not only caused an irreparable loss to the country’s economy but also made the life of the masses miserable. He said had an appropriate strategy been evolved for overcoming the energy crises, the country would not have been plunged into darkness today. He said due to long outages, industries have halted in Punjab and hundreds of thousands of labourers have become jobless and the people are protesting over it. The chief minister said it was decided in the energy conference that there would be equal load shedding of electricity throughout the country but this decision was not being implemented which was a grave injustice. He said there was a need of moving forward swiftly for overcoming the energy crises. He said that besides short terms, there was also a need of long term planning for this purpose. He said Punjab was a big province of Pakistan and it also contributed an overwhelming share in GDP. He said if the economy of Punjab was affected due to unequal load shedding, then, in fact, it was tantamount to causing a loss to the country’s economy. Therefore, the injustice with regard to electricity load shedding being meted out to Punjab should be stopped immediately, he stressed.
He said the projects of generating energy through coal, hydel, solar, biogas and other sources should be executed speedily. He said Punjab government had also working on the projects of generating energy through alternative sources. The CM said a policy had also been evolved in consultation with sugar mills owners for generating energy through bagass. He directed energy secretary to prepare a joint presentation regarding mines and energy within three days and the programme of provision of subsidy on solar tube wells should also be implemented speedily for facilitating the farmers. He said the outstanding electricity dues against Punjab will be paid per promise within one and a half months.
Earlier, Energy Secretary Jehanzeb Khan informed about the pace of implementation on the decisions of energy conference.
Meanwhile, a Muslim League delegation led by President Muslim League-N Barcelona (Spain) Nazir Ahmad Gondal and Vice President of Muslim League-N UK Basit Hamza Butt called on the CM.