‘Power crisis breathing last’

Kaira says various power plants in pipeline

LALAMUSA: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that work on various power generation projects, including Thar coal project has been started. Talking to the media after attending a ceremony here n Sunday, he said after the completion of these projects, the country would not only be able to generate electricity for its own use but would also be able to export the extra power.

He said the previous government did not give priority to power generation which increased the gap between electricity demand and generation capacity over the years. To a question, Kaira said the work of exploration for natural gas, in particular digging new wells, is in progress to ensure uninterrupted gas supply. He was hopeful that the situation would soon improve.
However, he said the use of gas has immensely increased as compared to past years. The minister said that more than 25 per cent vehicles are now using gas as fuel and CNG stations are functioning in all parts of the country. “Unfortunately, gas generation could not be increased in the past”, he regretted.
He said that people who had been in the government during the last 11 years have no right to criticize the present government on this issue. The minister said the PPP-led government is paying full attention to resolve the core issues of the people, adding they (government) are not doing street politics.
He said the NFC Award, the passage of 18th and 19th amendments by Parliament unanimously are big achievements and gifts of the PPP-led government to the nation.
Kaira said the government has categorically stated that no amendment would be made to blasphemy laws but some elements politicised it for their personal gains and they misguided the people. He said the General Sales Tax Reforms (GSTR) is not a matter of the PPP only but the whole nation, adding that if tax net is not widened then self-dependence cannot be achieved.
In this context, he said that if the nation would not sacrifice then the next generations of the country would be under a huge burden of debt of international monetary agencies.
To a question, he said the reconciliation process would continue.”We would try our best to remove the reservations of our allies to keep them in the coalition”. However, Kaira said,” All our allies have the right to have difference of opinion and this is the beauty of democracy”.-NNI

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