The Ministry of Water and Power, an external auditor and the auditor general of Pakistan have all been ordered to conduct inquires into the Nandipur power project, and glaring lapses are coming to the front which cannot just be a consequence of a sleight of hand. The cost of the non-functional power plant has already been confirmed to be around Rs50 billion, with around Rs15 billion of the amount being just to cover the interest on loans taken for its construction. According to reports, if the project was made fully operational soon it would collapse quickly and become a huge liability on the government as the Rs11.31 per unit tariff will be unable to cover the cost of generation. Despite that, reports have come in of the prime minister having been briefed by the project’s management that it will be fully functional by the first week of October. The Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) has submitted a review petition on the Nandipur Power Project with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), saying that the project is likely to cause a loss of Rs30 billion per year to the national exchequer if made operational at the given rate, with a loss of Rs6.5 per unit at full capacity expected. The problem did not start with the Nawaz Administration, but it was firmly within its power to salvage the situation and be part of the solution to Punjab’s energy shortages. Instead, the administration failed. The Nandipur debacle is important not just because of the enormous waste of public money, nor because of the delays or incompetence of the staff involved. It is important because it is a scathing indictment of the management style of a government that seeks to concentrate power into the hands of a very small circle of close confidantes of the ruling party’s bosses and the small number of bureaucrats they trust. A nation of 200 million people cannot be personally run by such a small circle of rulers. That they were unable to run a project in a policy area — energy — that has been identified as crucial to their party’s political future suggests that the Nawaz Administration had better shift course swiftly, or else face electoral oblivion. The tribal mentality that dominates the leadership of the PML-N needs to change. The PML-N’s top brass needs to learn to trust again, even if it has been twice betrayed in the past, and learn to value competence over loyalty, or else it will run the country and its economy into the ground, and along with it, the political future of the ruling party. The prime minister won a massive electoral mandate on the promise that he would solve Pakistan’s energy crisis. While he has made some efforts in moving the country in that direction, there is a long way to go and he cannot afford to be distracted by the predictable disasters that come from a failure to delegate responsibility to the right people. We believe the prime minister is sincere in his desire to solve the problem.
pk.shafaqna.com
