Shahbaz shifts office to Minar-e-Pakistan in protest against power outages

The Punjab government shifted its camp office to the Minar-e-Pakistan on Friday to express solidarity with public against the chronic power outages. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif addressed the media from his newly crafted camp office setup in protest against unannounced and unscheduled load shedding in the province,
The CM said President Asif Ali Zardari and convicted Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will have to be made accountable for debts amounting to Rs 400 billion. He stated that he will go to every village and city of the country to rid the people of the power outages as well as ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, who, he said, had pushed Pakistan into darkness. Sharif said he could not relax until as the people had been deprived of their sleep due to the unending electricity outages.
He announced that he has built his office at the ‘Minar-e-Pakistan’ and that the next cabinet session will be held here. Sharif stated if the circular debt was countered, the power crisis would end.
He stated that the government had ruined the economy and industry in Pakistan. Water is a scarce resource for the general masses and that water was not even available for executing ‘Wuzu’ before offering prayers in mosques.
He declared that they will bring back the money compromised under the NRO in Swiss banks. Sharif added that they will return the 700 megawatt electricity which falls under the share of Punjab to allow the province to help settle the issue of the power crisis.
He said the decisions taken during the energy conference had been violated, as the PM had promised electricity outages on an equal basis throughout the country, but that poor governance on the part of the rulers was compounding the power crisis.
He said the federal government was being unjust with Punjab, adding that if corruption ended and the money looted from Pakistan was brought back to the country, the load shedding crisis could be ended.
Disregarding security protocol, Chief Minister Shahbaz reached the camp office and presided over a meeting of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA).
WASA officials briefed the CM at the camp, regarding the shortage of water. The officials told the CM that they got generators on rent for two to three hours to overcome the water shortage issue but the generators will be needed for more time daily due to the prolonged load shedding. The CM issued directions to WASA to get generators for 24 hours to solve the problem.
The meeting was attended by Lahore Commissioner, DCO, WASA MD and members of the Punjab Assembly.
No generator or UPS was installed at the camp office, while all the participants, including the chief minister, were seen wearing black ribbons.