Lawmakers on Monday urged the government to devise an effective strategy to help steer the country out of the power crisis and make the national economy vibrant and strong. “The power issue is directly linked to the country’s economic development and if the government succeeds in overcoming the power crisis, the economy will witness a sharp growth,” Fiza Junejo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid said while participating in the general discussion on federal budget 2012-13 in the National Assembly.
She said there was a potential of generating over 16,000MW through hydel electricity in the northern areas and this potential must be explored to produce cheap energy in the country. She also stressed on utilizing other sources of energy like solar, wind and coal. She said the tax system of the country needed improvement and the tax net should also be increased in order to achieve the tax collection target for the upcoming fiscal year.
PPP’s Abdul Ghani Talpur said the budget 2012-13 was the best budget presented by a government and the opposition was struggling to find words to criticize it. He said the agriculture sector was the backbone of the country’s economy and its development would help strengthen the country. He proposed that the subsidy for agriculture sector be enhanced in the upcoming fiscal year to encourage farmers. He said Pakistan had the capacity to produce over 18,000MW of electricity. “The Kotri power plant has a capacity to produce 225MW of electricity, but it is only producing 50-60MW due to non-provision of gas,” Talpur added. MQM’s Shagufta Sadiq said the shadow budget proposed by the MQM was prepared to guide the government in drafting a budget that could lead the country towards development. She proposed imposing tax on people whose income was over Rs 400,000. She also urged introducing agriculture tax in the country.
She said the salary increase of 20 percent for government employees was not in accordance with inflationary trends. PPP MNA Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor said the “system is hostage to WAPDA plunderers. They are not ready to fulfill their responsibilities. They support leakages and pilferage”. He regretted that “WAPDA is a white elephant and not even in the government’s control”. Former federal minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi went a step further by saying that WAPDA officials themselves encouraged people in FATA to pilfer power. “WAPDA officials tempt our people to steal power. When tribesmen approach them for a valid connection, they advise the consumers to use power and pay them monthly. They discourage official connections,” he said.
