IN order to provide instant relief to the masses, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Tuesday, issued directions for the end of the load-shedding from May 01.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb told newsmen after the PM chaired a meeting on the energy sector that Imran Khan and his government were responsible for the ongoing energy crisis because neither they repaired technical faults nor arranged LNG, diesel and furnace oil.
As a result, when the previous government was ousted, 27 power-generating units of 5,500 megawatts capacity were out of order due to faults and a total of 1,100 MW were unavailable for generation because of fuel shortage or repair.
The speed with which the Government has moved, under instructions of the Prime Minister, to eliminate the technically-forced load-shedding is really appreciable and is yet another example of ‘Shehbaz Speed’.
It shows problems of the people can be mitigated if there is will and vision on the part of the leadership.
Some circles allege that the announcement was not realistic and that the Government aims to take credit for low utilization of power during Eid holidays when industrial and commercial consumption comes down drastically.
However, deliberations of the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and its decisions show the plan to end load-shedding is backed by solid and feasible measures.
This is evident from the instructions given by the PM that natural gas from fertilizer and captive power plants be diverted to the power sector and timely payment of funds be ensured to end load-shedding from May 1.
This is what the Government can do on a short term basis to restore power generation to optimum levels and hopefully this would be followed by medium and long term plans to address the challenge on a sustainable basis.
