Nawaz vows to address energy crisis on war footing

Jalil Afridi

 
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said lack of attention of previous governments towards the energy sector has jeopardized country’s development and progress and vowed to rectify the issue on war-footing.
Talking to senior media persons here at the Prime Minister’s Office this evening, the Prime Minister said entire focus of the present government was aimed at addressing the daunting issue of energy in the country and to ensure its smooth availability to domestic users, industries and other sectors.
Nawaz Sharif was interacting with the media, following a detailed presentation on the energy issue confronting the country and ways to tackle it.
The Prime Minister attributed it to poor policies of the previous governments towards the much important energy sector and said it was this inattention that has put the power sector in shambles.
He said production of cheap electricity was not only a challenge but revamping of the transmission and distribution system also needs due attention and huge investments.
Mentioning the challenges faced by the government, the Prime Minister said most of the state-owned institutions including PIA, Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills were consuming billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money to keep afloat.
Prime Minister said he believes in transparency, good governance and fair play and vowed that he would ensure it at all costs.
He said electricity thieves who were depriving the country of billions of rupees need to be brought to justice, as they not only were depriving thousands of this facility but also harm the national economy.
The Prime Minister also sought input of the media to the government, so that the country was relieved of this menace. He said energy was a national issue and everybody must make his due contribution in making the government’s energy policy a success.