Sindh CM says PM inaugurating plants but where power is going

NAWABSHAH: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that the people of Sindh were facing problems due to power crisis as the federal government had failed to fulfil its promises and claims. He further added that the federal government had failed to cope with the power crisis. Murad said power plants were being inaugurated daily by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with claims of production of hundreds of megawatts of electricity, but no one knew where the power supply was going.

He was talking to the media at the Zero Point after visiting various under-construction roads here on Friday.  The chief minister said that people were facing extreme difficulties due to power breakdowns and unscheduled loadsheding. He further added that the federal government had failed to curb the power crisis.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that Sindh — even with limited resources — was struggling to control the power crisis and the 100-megawatt power plant in Nooriabad was a big achievement of the province. He claimed that the Sindh province wanted to sell its power to Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) but the offer was declined.

Murad Ali Shah said that the road construction projects, worth billions of rupees, were in full swing. He said that 134-km Nawabshah-Ranipur Road was under construction. He also added that 32.5-km Nawabshah-Saeedabad Road was also under construction and would be completed by the end of 2017, adding that this road would reduce the traffic on the National Highway.

During a briefing session, the chief minister was informed that the Nawabshah-Saeedabad Road would also connect Nawabshah with Khairpur and it would cater as an alternate route of Motorway, reducing the distance between Khairpur and Karachi by 50 kms.

Regarding the supply of filtered water to residents of Nawabshah, the chief minister said that funds were being released for replacing the old lines with new, following which the supply of potable water would commence. He added that the citizens of Nawabshah would soon get clean water from the Ultra Filtration Plant of Rs1.5 billion.

The CM also assured that the 300-bed Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Mother and Child Hospital and 300-bed Benazir Kidney Transplant Centre would soon commence treatment facilities for the people, adding that funds were also released for these projects. Murad Ali Shah said that both the projects would provide the latest health and medical facilities to the people of Shaheed Benazirabad division and its adjoining areas. To a question, the CM said that cement lining of the main Rohri Canal was in progress and the canal would be cemented during the annual closure of canals.

Sindh Minister for Works and Services Imdad Ali Pitafi, MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio, MPA Saleem Raza Jalbani, District Council Chairman Jam Tamachi Unar, Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Phull, DIG Iqbal Dara, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Nouman Siddique and SSP Tanveer Hussain Tunio were also present on the event. During the visit of the chief minister, strict security measures were made.