Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that he never promised to steer the country out of the severe energy crisis six months after assuming power but vowed the get rid of energy issues during his five year term.The premier was speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of LNG powered Bhikki Power Plant in Sheikhupura district of Punjab. The premier claimed that he and his team are working day and night to overcome the energy shortage which has made life difficult for the business community and the populace of the country. The premier reiterated that his ‘hard working’ team is making all efforts to overcome the energy shortage by 2018. The prime minister was accompanied by Punjab Governor Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Being the head of the party, the PM cannot absolve himself of the responsibility by saying he did not make a commitment of six months to end the energy crisis. He needs to take his brother and party leader Mian Shahbaz Sharif, and others, to task for befooling the nation. Even if we concede that it was an election gimmick, what about the performance of the PML-N government in the energy sector since coming to power? Recent revelations made by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) and National Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) speak volumes for the government’s performance. Both painted a dismal picture of the performance of all power companies operating in the public and private sectors besides massive irregularities being detected in WAPDA and PEPCO. The power companies not only failed to meet generation, transmission and distribution targets but also sent wrong utility bills to consumers. The AGP and NEPRA are government institutions. Instead of trying to prove their findings wrong, the government needs to mend its ways. The performance of the present government seems worse in the energy sector compared to previous regimes. Long term planning and its proper implementation are what the government has failed to do. What has the government done during its two and a half years tenure? What progress has it achieved in decreasing load shedding in the country? In fact there is no improvement in the energy sector. Rather, the electricity crisis has put many industries on the verge of collapse. Though the setting up of a power plant in Sheikhupura is a good development, it is not enough. The energy crisis requires steps on a war footing, but this has been conspicuous by its absence. Even the Nandipur power project, for which the PML-N roundly castigated the previous government, has failed to take off except in cost multiplication.The energy crisis is eroding the credibility of the PML-N government. Fingers are being raised at poor governance that has failed to end the sufferings of the masses due to the presence of incompetent ministers. Instead of ending the power crisis, the duration of load shedding has increased. Like the previous PPP government, the electricity crisis can result in the ouster of the Nawaz government. It is in the interests of the government itself that it reconsiders its approach and avoid further mismanagement.
pk.shafaqna.com
