Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant to start generation in Dec: Shahbaz

LAHORE: Taking a jibe at the PTI chairman, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday said Mr Niazi in the past had accused the PML-N provincial government of not paying attention to power generation and made tall claims of doing so in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but produced “minus six” megawatts of electricity during the five-year rule in the province.

“Mr Niazi said in an interview in 2012 that why we don’t generate electricity as the provinces are authorised for power generation under the 18th Amendment. Mr Niazi again said in an interview in 2013 that he will produce electricity for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the entire country, but he has produced ‘minus six’ megawatts of electricity during the last five years,” Shahbaz said. He passed these remarks during a visit to the gas-fired Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant in Jhang to review the progress made in the ongoing work.

He said the country’s largest gas-based Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant would start generating 800 megawatt electricity from December. “An amount of Rs 160 billion has been saved in the four gas-based projects and I challenge NAB to get this saving analyzed from some financial expert,” said Shahbaz.

The chief minister said 4,800-MW power projects had been speedily completed by maintaining transparency, adding that an amount of Rs 160 billion was saved in the four gas-based power projects.

He said the promises made with the nation about elimination of energy crisis were being fulfilled and the Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant was a proof of that commitment.

Talking to media, Shahbaz said the PML-N government had set up projects at half the price as compared with the projects installed in Zardari and Musharraf eras. The chief minister said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government previously set up 80-MW project in the province, which became dysfunctional in 2016, but the PTI government established a 74-MW project instead of rectifying the old one. “That is why I say that they have produced minus six megawatts of electricity,” he noted.

“On the other hand, the Zardari government in Sindh has installed a power project at Nooriabad which is producing only 15-MW of electricity,” he remarked. And in Lahore, Shahbaz, who is also the PML-N president, held a meeting with the party’s Sindh chapter head Shah Muhammad Shah, as they discussed different matters of mutual interest including political situation in the country. On the occasion, Shah briefed him on the organisational activities and party matters pertaining to Sindh. Shah said the people of Sindh wanted a change for development and prosperity and were looking towards Shahbaz for that purpose.

Also on Thursday, Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Khan, members of national and provincial assemblies, party ticket holders and the PML-N leaders called on the chief minister and reposed their full confidence over his leadership. Ghulam Dastgir Lak MPA, Muhammad Ilyas, Abid Raza Kotla, Chaudhry Mubashar, Pir Ijaz Hashmi, Awais Leghari, Barrister Rana Javed Iqbal were among those meeting the PML-N president.