Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said that a lot of work has been done in the last four years under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, to resolve the energy crisis.
Due to the political acumen and untiring efforts of the prime minister, he said, energy crisis is about to an end in the country. He said that as much as 36 billion dollars’ worth of investment has been made in different energy projects under the auspices of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The chief minister said this while addressing the senior Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) workers and notables of the Walled City of Lahore, here today.
Shehbaz Sharif said that Allah Almighty has bestowed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with political wisdom that he so notably has shown over the years. He added that he, himself, gave the proposal, in May 2015, that apart from the projects being made under the CPEC, other with resources of Pakistan should also be made. This proposal, he added, was given in a meeting which was held under the chair of prime minister to ponder over energy crisis after the visit of Chinese President to Pakistan, in April 2015.
The meeting was largely attended by ministers of the concerned departments, secretaries and other high officials.
The chief minister said that the 1200 MW Bhikki power plant has been inaugurated; while the gas power projects in Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah are near completion. He said that China has proved its friendship with Pakistan by investing 36 billion dollars in the energy sector of the former and observed that China is, no doubt, the most trusted friend of Pakistan.
He added that Pakistan will never forget this gesture of the Chinese. By the grace of Allah Almighty, he said, the Chinese investment has helped to overcome the energy crisis in the country.
The chief minister said his proposal of spending from Pakistan’s resources on energy projects was approved by the prime minister. The prime minister then decided to set up 3600 MW gas power plant from the country’s own resources.
“I told them that it was the prime minister who had made the commitment to the nation to overcome load-shedding and, therefore, he would be answerable to the nation.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the work on these 3600 MW gas power plants is in progress.
Time has come, the chief minister said, to get the darkness caused by load-shedding to be overcome with light. Had the energy projects not been set up, I would have asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to jointly resign, because we could not produce electricity in accordance with our promise. But thanks to Allah Almighty, he said, load-shedding has sufficiently been decreased due to energy projects, as many projects are going to be completed in the coming months.
The prime minister has fulfilled his promise of overcoming the energy crisis made with 200 million people of Pakistan. He further said that the gesture of the prime minister is like an order for him and it is his habit to do tomorrow’s work, today.