Federal Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said the government needs load shedding problem could take not weeks or months, but years to tackle power load shedding.
Talking to reporters, Asif said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had five years to resolve this issue, but they wasted it. He said, “Our first priority was to reduce the duration of load shedding.”
He said that he would be able to review the real situation within four days.
Meanwhile, he said the duration of load shedding would be cut short in Ramazan.
Asif said he would be making sincere efforts to resolve this issue.
However, the minister refused to give any deadline for ending the menace of load shedding.
He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be announcing the energy policy in the next few days detailing plan to end the energy crisis. He said competent officers would be given responsibilities and all decisions would be based on merit.
Earlier, on arrival at the ministry, he was briefed about the energy situation and steps taken to minimise the impact.
Separately, talking to a private TV channel, Asif said the government had designed and finalised strategy to resolve the energy shortage issue.
He said, “Our first priority is to reduce the hours of load shedding to provide relief the common man especially in the holy month of Ramazan.”
He said domestic consumers would be given preference followed by the industrial units. The minister said that equal load shedding will be carried out in all parts of the country.
Khawaja Asif was born on August 9, 1949 in Sialkot. He previously served as the minister for petroleum and natural resources, with additional portfolio of sports ministry in prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s cabinet.
Before getting into politics, he lived in the UAE for several years, and worked in several banks. Later, he quit and moved back to Pakistan in 1991, shortly before the death of his father, and took his place in politics, he was elected to Senate.
In 1993, he resigned from senate and contested and won National Assembly seat from Sialkot.
In 2013 elections, he was elected for the fifth term as a member of the National Assembly on a PML-N ticket and was appointed Federal Minister for Water and Power by the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.
He was previously elected as an MNA for in the years 1993, 1997, 2002 and 2008.
In the Nawaz Sharif cabinet of 1997-1999, Khawaja Asif held the portfolio of Privatisation Commission chairman, with the status of a federal minister. He is married with three daughters and a son.
Years required to deal with load shedding: Khawaja Asif
