PTI govt responsible for loadshedding: Shehbaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the country is facing loadshedding due to gross mismanagement and incompetence of the previous government, and expressed his commitment to address the situation at the earliest.

“The previous government was incompetent and indifferent to problems of masses and gross mismanagement on its part is resulting in loadshedding across the country,” he said while speaking at the floor of the House on Saturday.

The PM assured the people that the PMLN government was trying to resolve the serious issue on priority basis, and he had held several meetings with the ministries of Petroleum, Power and Finance in the last three days. He said the country had the capacity to generate 35,000 megawatts of electricity, which was sufficient to meet its power needs.

About 6,000 megawatts of hydel power could be generated, which was linked to melting of glaciers and availability of water. He reminded that unfortunately, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) coal-based plants and the new LNG plants that could produce about 5,000 megawatts of power, including the one set up during 2019, with a capacity to generate 1,250 megawatts, had been closed for the last four years. He said the Nawaz Sharif government had set up 5,000-MW power projects based on LNG [liquefied natural gas]. He said power generation projects from LNG and thermal power projects were lying closed due to shortage of LNG and furnace oil.

He claimed that the previous government could not make functional a 1,250-MW LNG power generation project in four years. “Due to these reasons, the country was facing loadshedding,” he said, adding that it was the reason that the opposition had been calling the PTI government the most incompetent and inefficient regime in the country’s history.

He regretted that the power plants had been lying closed due to shortage of gas. The previous government also wreaked havoc on other sectors, Shehbaz added. He claimed that the previous government did not purchase LNG when it was available at the rate of three to four dollars per MMBTU. He said today the gas price has reached 30 to 35 dollars per MMBTU. “It was due to intervention of Ameer of Qatar that Pakistan got LNG on highly discounted rates,” he added. But, he regretted that the terminals established at Karachi Port were not sufficient for big storage even if LNG was made available.

The PM recalled that the last government of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) had signed a gas import agreement with Qatar at a discounted rate, on which the previous PTI government used to raise fingers.

The Prime Minister, who visited the Rawal Chowk flyover in Islamabad early in the morning, referred to the slow-pace construction work on the site and said the project, despite a clear deadline for its completion within two years, had been stalled, multiplying public and motorists’ woes. He regretted that the project was awarded to a company which was blacklisted during work on the Orange Train project in Lahore. Interestingly, the flyover is being built to ensure flow of traffic from Red-Zone of the federal capital to Bani Gala and other adjacent areas. PM Shehbaz said that in the Punjab province, he had delivered such projects within 72 days.

The PM condemned an attack on the acting speaker Dost Mazari in the Punjab Assembly, terming it the provincial government’s fascist act. He felicitated newly-elected speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and expressed the hope that he would uphold the Constitution and sanctity of the house supreme. He recalled the days when Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was the PM and he (Shehbaz) was the CM Punjab and he had cordial working relationship with him. "You are an experienced politician; I congratulate you from the core of my heart. You have also served the country as the prime minister," Shehbaz Sharif said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his resolve to work closely with Saudi Arabia to enhance and further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

During a telephone call, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman warmly congratulated PM Shehbaz on his election as the prime minister of Pakistan.

According to a statement from the Foreign Office, during the course of their most warm and friendly conversation, PM Shehbaz paid rich tributes to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Salman for achieving remarkable progress and development of the kingdom, under their visionary leadership.

“While recalling the fraternal and historic bonds between their two countries that have been the hallmark of their strategic relationship over the past seven decades, the premier reaffirmed his government’s and his own commitment to further advance these relations to new heights,” the statement read.

PM Shehbaz thanked Saudi Arabia for its historic and continued support and cooperation, both bilaterally as well as at international forums, while also assuring the Saudi leader that Pakistan would stand by the kingdom at all times.

The newly elected premier and the crown prince agreed to work together to further augment and diversify their bilateral ties in all spheres, in particular trade, investment and employment generation opportunities.

Mohamed Bin Salman extended his cordial invitation to the prime minister to pay an official visit to the Kingdom, at an early date. Thanking the crown prince for his gracious invitation, the premier also extended an invitation to him to undertake a state visit to Pakistan.