PA passes resolution against non-compliance with production order for Faryal Talpur

The Sindh Assembly on Friday passed a resolution against non-compliance with the production order issued by the speaker for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA and party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur during the current session.

The resolution was tabled by PPP MPA Syeda Marvi Faseeh. It stated that the PA speaker had on August 16 issued the production orders for Talpur, who has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau, but the authorities addressed in the production order had failed to comply with it.

“The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is the custodian of the rights of the people of Sindh and the interests of the people of Sindh are represented by their duly elected MPAs,” the resolution read. “It is for this reason that the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly empower the Speaker and Chairman of a Standing committee to issue production orders of its Members to ensure their attendance and numerous such orders have been issued and compiled with by the relevant authorities in the past.”

The resolution asked the provincial government and/or the chief minister to approach the relevant authorities to ensure that the production order was complied with. “It is breach of privilege of a member as the production order has been issued by the House,” the resolution read.

Thar coal

Earlier, speaking during the question hour of the session, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh said the production of electricity from indigenous reserves of coal in the Thar area of Sindh was a desire of the late PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

He added that the incumbent chairman of the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had materialised Benazir’s dream. The energy minister said relevant global institutions had expressed no objection against the use of coal reserves in Thar for electricity production.

He informed the PA that the power generation plant installed in Thar had been producing 660 megawatts electricity on a daily basis. If anyone wanted to visit the project, they would be granted the opportunity to do so, he said, adding that the power generation plant had not been damaging the environment of the area.

The Thar coal power project could help save foreign exchange reserves worth Rs10 billion to Rs12 billion had the federal government owned it but unfortunately it was not the case, Shaikh remarked.

He said model villages had been constructed for the local population of Thar, which had to be displaced due to the open-pit mining in their areas for extracting coal. The energy minister also lamented that that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not congratulate Sindh on the commissioning of the Thar coal and power project.