Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that sincere efforts were made for overcoming energy crisis during the past two-and-a-half years and work is being carried out on energy projects throughout the country including Punjab.
He expressed these views during his meeting with Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif here. Matters of mutual interest and various projects in the energy sector were discussed during the meeting.
CM Sharif said that under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), $36 billion have been reserved for energy projects and work on various projects in Punjab is being carried out round-the-clock.
He said that the Chinese president visited Pakistan in April last year when agreements on projects were signed under CPEC, and work was started on these projects in September and now these projects are nearing completion.
The chief minister said that under the CPEC, coal, solar, wind and hydel power projects are being set up all over the country whereas projects in communication, transport and infrastructure are also being executed. He said that speedy implementation of projects after signing of agreements under CPEC is unprecedented.
He said that 2.8 billion dollars investment is being made on 1320 megawatts coal power project in Sahiwal whereas 1320 megawatt coal power plant project is being set up with same cost at Port Qasim. Shehbaz Sharif said that China has also invested in 900 megawatt solar power project in Bahawalpur. He said that 3600 megawatt gas-based projects are also being carried out speedily in Punjab.
He said that the problem of shortage of electricity will be resolved with the investment of 36 billion dollars in energy projects by China under the CPEC. He said that previous rulers committed loot and plunder in development projects and a number of corruption scams also came fore. He said that corrupt rulers of Punjab did nothing for the country and the nation during dictatorship. The chief minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, government is committed to overcoming energy crisis and work is being carried out day and night for the completion of energy projects.
He said that projects are being forwarded in a transparent manner. He said that efforts being made under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for elimination of energy crisis are unprecedented. Shehbaz Sharif said that loadshedding will reduce substantially after completion of these projects and thousands of megawatts more electricity will be added to national grid after completion of various energy projects at the end of next year.
Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif said that special children suffering from down syndrome disease deserve special attention of society. He said that special children are not less than normal children with regard to abilities and capabilities. He said that special children can be made useful citizen of society by providing them best facilities of education and training.
In his message on World Down Syndrome Day, the chief minister said that education, training, look-after and rehabilitation of special children is our national responsibility and the Punjab government is pursuing a comprehensive programme for care and rehabilitation of special children. He said that Punjab government has improved facilities of education and training in the rehabilitation institutions of special children.