Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said energy, communications and elimination of terrorism were top priorities of his government.
| So says every Pak government. It's an annual goal that they can renew safely every year without fear of it ever being realized... |
"We are determined to end energy shortage by early 2018; building network of motorways for connectivity across Pakistan and uprooting terrorism and extremism completely," the prime minister said while addressing an award giving ceremony of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries in Karachi.
Sharif flew to Karachi for a day-long visit during which he also received a briefing at Port Qasim on two under construction coal-fired power plants at a cost of $1.5 billion with a total generation capacity of 1,320MW.
He said huge reserves of coal, being mined at Thar in Sindh, would be used in four power plants being built at Port Qasim, Jamshoro and Sahiwal. In addition, other energy projects have also been undertaken to produce about 10,000 MW of power to resolve energy problem of the country which was imperative to bolster economy including industry and agriculture. Long-term hydel projects like Bhasha and Dassu have also be launched to meet water and power needs.
| So much for global warming. Why should I cut so much as one ounce of CO2 from my output when the Paks, the Chinese and the Indians are building coal-fired generating plants like mad? |
The prime minister announced that electricity rates for industry would be reduced by Rs3 per unit from January next.
For connectivity, Sharif said construction of motorways has been resumed from where he had left in 1999 when his government had been toppled.
Balochistan is being connected with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while work on Karachi-Hyderabad-Sukkur-Multan and Lahore has been initiated. |