Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan, particularly Punjab, is facing the worst load-shedding of its history. While talking to newsmen outside the Punjab Assembly on Monday, he said 180 million people of the country and particularly 95 million people of Punjab are facing poverty, unemployment and unrest due to electricity crisis.
"People have lost patience and now they cannot be put through any other test. The protest, anger and reaction against worst load-shedding in the Punjab are natural," he added.
He said he has set up his protest camp at Minar-e-Pakistan for expressing solidarity with the people and it will continue till the implementation of decisions of energy conference and ending discriminatory attitude being meted out to Punjab regarding load-shedding. "Raising voice over the problems is right of the people but they should avoid causing loss to the public and private properties during protest," he added.
He said unfortunately some people have lost their lives during protest in Punjab for which he is deeply shocked and equally shares the grief of the bereaved families. He strongly appealed to the masses not to turn violent, as the external elements and extremists can benefit from this situation. He said the PML-N leadership is with the people and it will not rest till they get their right. "Private and public properties are assets of the nation, therefore, these should not be damaged during protest," he added.
To a question, Shahbaz Sharif said a policy would be evolved for compensating the loss caused to the properties during protests. To another question, he said the Federal government has created hindrances in the energy projects planed by the provincial government. He said had the projects of Nandipur and Chichoki Malian were not delayed due to kickbacks and corruption, 950 MW electricity would have been generated today. To another question, he said if the electricity could be brought from China or Iran, it should not be delayed anymore.
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