Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday said the nation would have to show more patience for getting permanent freedom from the persisting energy crisis.
Addressing a reception hosted in his honour by the Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajran, he said the government had paid Rs 322 billion circular debt to independent power producers (IPPs) to reduce the duration of load shedding.
“We can reduce three-hour load shedding if traders stop their business activities at 7.30pm across the country,” he said.
The minister said the government was contemplating various options for generating electricity from coal, water and wind.
Asif said the government was trying to provide maximum relief to the people during Ramazan by reducing load shedding duration in the country.
“We have been facing energy crisis for the last 15 years and the government was making strenuous efforts for bringing the country out of electricity crisis,” he added.
He was confident that electricity situation would improve after the increase of water level in dams.
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif has urged the country’s traders and businessmen to unanimous formulate a schedule time of closing their shops in evening for sharing the hands of government in energy conservation, saying that the early closure of the shops on a time in all parts of the country would help to save 1,100 to 1200 megawatts of electricity. He said that the business community should also join the governmental efforts to save maximum energy by adopting the alternative resources of the power usage.
Asif said the PML-N government was fully aware of the business community’s problems and was making efforts to solve them under “dynamic leadership” of Nawaz Sharif.
Now, the PML-N would make Pakistan an Asian Tiger, by putting the country on the highway to national political and economical stability, as the economical stability was the priority of the present government through solving the energy crisis, he revealed.
He narrated that the former rulers had ruined the country’s economy by creating the energy crisis through plundering the national exchequer.
Later, talking to delegations at his residence, Asif added that getting rid of the energy crisis was not an easy task, as the crisis had grown up by the former rulers in years and now the years were required to overcome the menace of said aggregated energy crisis, which had perturbed the life of everyone and ruined the national economy, saying that it will take time to end the persisting energy crisis despite the PML-N government has started work on emergency ground to give the maximum relief to the energy crisis beaten people, in this regard.
Asif said that the PML-N government has evolved an effective anti-power load shedding strategy for giving maximum relief to the people.
He also said that about 5,000MW electricity could be generated by stopping gas supply to CNG and fertiliser sectors. Asif said that it would take about three years to overcome the power crisis completely but steps were being taken for gradual decrease in load shedding.
The minister said that to give CNG facility to a few people, millions of people were being deprived of electricity.
This PML N cabinet is full of comedians.Khawaja Asif is one and then the adjacent news Pervez Rashid.Only problem is they do not have sense of humour.
Why close the shops and businesses at 7:30 pm,if you have to close them,close them for 3 hours,close them between 3pm and 6pm,that way they can stay open for the time people are out and about after work.I wish the government would make some sensible decisions,how are the business people suppose to feed their families if they close the business at 7:30 pm.Bonehead's making bonehead decisions.
This guy used to create hue and cry and pollute the TV screens with his ugly "BHASHANS" on the similar statements by previous regime. I am pretty sure that he can not keep his promises (for being his immediate neighbor in his home-town). Three years time frame given in the whole is based on the various projects started in the subsequent previous and expected to start production in next 2-3 years. They may be able to reduce the load shedding a bit, but it would insufficient to get rid of it completely.
Khawaja Asif should have given this piece of advice to people before the elections, not after. people want the present govt to finish load shedding in months not in years.
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