Shehbaz visits Chinese embassy for condolence; assures exemplary punishment to perpetrators
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, in a big move to facilitate the general public, announced an end to load-shedding of electricity across the country from May 1 and onwards. The prime minister, also famed as ‘Shehbaz Speed’ for his efficiency to deliver at a fast pace, declared that the government had operationalized 20 out of 27 major power producers, which were shut down for a year.
Chairing a high-level meeting to devise a policy to address the shortage of electricity, PM Sharif said the step was an ‘Eid gift’ for the public who had been suffering frequent power outages in summers. The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to resolve all the issues pertaining to load-shedding by April 30 so as to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted power supply to consumers.
He stressed establishing an integrated and sustainable fuel system to meet the requirements of power generation and also a plan keeping in view the hot season in particular. PM Shehbaz called for a long-term effective plan to eliminate the loss of feeders of the power distribution companies. He took notice of the complaints of artificial shortage of diesel during harvesting and directed the relevant authorities to identify the perpetrators and ensure strict action. The prime minister emphasized an uninterrupted supply of diesel to farmers to run agricultural machinery and urged the district administration in rural areas to facilitate the farmers.
The meeting was briefed that the re-operationalization of the 20 power plants had increased power generation. It was pointed out that the previous government did not purchase fuel for power plants in four years which led to load-shedding. However, the government of PM Shehbaz within two weeks managed the availability of fuel besides increasing the capacity of electricity generation. It was informed that the total power generation in the country was about 18,500 megawatts while the shortfall was between 500 to 2,000 megawatts.
Later Prime Minister Shehbaz visited the Chinese embassy here and conveyed his condolence over the death of Chinese nationals in a blast that took place in Karachi earlier in the afternoon. The prime minister met the Chinese Charge’d Affaires Pang Chunxue and sympathized with the government and the people of China as well as the bereaved families. The prime minister assured a swift probe into the tragedy to take the culprits to the task.
“I want to assure you on my behalf, on behalf of the Government of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan, that we will hunt down the perpetrators, culprits, killers. We will not rest until they are caught and given exemplary punishment,” the prime minister said talking to Chinese media at the embassy. He instructed the authorities concerned to provide foolproof security to the Chinese nationals as well as the organizations. Calling it an attack on attack on China-Pakistan cordial relations, the prime minister resolved that the government would not let the bilateral ties be undermined through such acts.