SADIQABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday criticised previous governments for failing to carry out development work and said that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has been the only one active in the development sector.
He challenged his political opponents to an electoral contest in the 2018 elections and said the polls will make it clear as to what party emerges victorious.
He said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, which will provide gas to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Abbasi stated that the government has addressed chronic energy problems of the country keeping in view requirements of the next 15 years.
The prime minister pointed out that when the PML-N assumed power, gas-powered power and fertilizer plants were shut and gas was not available.
Today, he said the power plants are operational and producing cheap electricity from the imported LNG. He said the country is importing the cheapest LNG compared to any other country in the world.
The prime minister also said that the power crisis in the country has been largely contained, and every household has access to gas now. He said the process of providing two million new gas connections to the consumers on the basis of merit will also be achieved before the next elections.
The prime minister was confident that the ruling party will win next general elections on the basis of its economic achievements and cited the construction of a vast network of motorways spanning over 1800 kilometres over the last four and a half years.
On the occasion, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, members of the parliament, and high authorities were present. The project is part of gas infrastructure development across the country. It is a joint venture of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd. (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd. (SSGC). It also includes construction of 1044 km pipeline by SNGPL and 425 km pipeline by SSGC.
He credited the SSNGPL and SSGC for the completion of this project within two and half years, outdoing the achievements made in the developed countries in this sector.
He expressed his confidence that the project would help overcome energy issues. The gas was being supplied to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from this area, he added. He said in the energy security, the supply of gas played a significant role in the country, and, without its abundant supply, the energy issued could not be resolved.
The prime minister said numerous power plants at the cost of billions of rupees were being set up. Re-gasification plants were functional, and import of LNG was made at the cheapest rate which was acknowledged by the world, he added.
He regretted that when the PML-N government was ousted from power, none in the successive governments took pains to construct or expand the motorway. But again it was the PML-N government which successfully initiated work on 1800 km motorway during the last four and half years.
He announced that 2 million gas connections would be given to consumers by this June, and the figures stood about 50 per cent of the total gas connections to be given to the people in the country’s history and that too on merit.
Oil guzzling power plants were now replaced with energy efficient regasified power plants, and no import of oil was now made by the government, he said.
He said the ruling government also focused on the uplift of southern Punjab, with the completion of various development projects.
