As a man sows, so shall he reap, PM tells critics

• Nawaz congratulates Punjab govt over 84% completion of Bhikki Power Plant project

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in his address to a gathering during his visit to the 1180 megawatts Bhikki Power Plant in Sheikhupura on Wednesday, took a jibe at his opponents, saying, “Those who work hard inaugurate projects.”

The premier, who was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressed satisfaction over the pace of work on the project. He said that he was surprised over the pace of work on the project, adding that 15 months ago when he had along with Shehbaz Sharif visited the site of the project, there were only fields everywhere in the area.

He said this was the fruit of round-the-clock hard work of the Punjab chief minister and his team that 84 per cent of the project had been completed. Nawaz, on the occasion, congratulated Shehbaz Sharif for this achievement for setting new example of speedy completion of projects, and said God willing he would visit the site along with Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate the first turbine of the project next month.

Earlier, both the prime minister and chief minister got a briefing from Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power Project Chief Executive Ahad Cheema on the project. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was also present on the occasion. Addressing at the ceremony, CM Shehbaz Sharif said that new records of speedy completion of power projects were being set in the power sector and all previous records in 70 years history of Pakistan had been broken.

He said the prime minister gave vision of gas-based energy projects in March 2015 and now such projects with collective capacity of 3600MW were in the final stages of completion in Bhikki, Baloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah which, according to him, would benefit 200 million people. The chief minister said that Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and others parts of Pakistan were badly hit by shortage of electricity and with the completion of all these energy projects, every part of the country would benefit.

He said that no project in Pakistan’s history had ever been completed without delays, but under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, power projects were being completed before the deadline. He said it was a matter of pleasure that the prime minister had visited Bhikki to review progress of the power project.

The CM said the historic role played by the prime minister in the completion of power projects would be remembered forever and round-the-clock work was being carried out on energy projects under the leadership of the premier. He said the PM’s Office, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and federal departments were providing all-out support for this project and he was thankful for their cooperation.