KARACHI: The ruling PPP on Monday shrugged off questions on soaring inflation and extensive power cuts in the megacity and piled criticisms on the PTI lawmakers during the Sindh Assembly session.
The PPP legislators blamed the PTI’s government for the present skyrocketing inflation and long-hours electricity loads heading in Karachi, taunting the main opposition legislators for the public plight and the costlier food.
Adeeba Hasan of the PTI raised the issue of an extensive power cuts in the megacity on a call attention notice, saying that the public is agonized. She asked the PPP government how long it will take to improve the power supplies to the citizens.
She said that there is no one in the government to explain that what makes the prolonged power cuts happen. The provincial ministers are only restricted to the K-Electric meetings.
“In some areas, people have the electricity only for 10 hours a day,” she said adding that the public lives are anguished and they cannot cope with situation and to carry out their businesses.
In response, Sindh Energy Minister, Imtiaz Shaikh said that the PTI lawmakers just after three months of their government’s ouster have realized to debate on the electricity load shedding.
“When they were in the government about 10 hours a day power cuts would occur,” he said adding that the PTI lawmakers had no feelings for the public problems. He said that power outages are a national issue, which the PTI government had created.
He blamed that the PTI government had failed to book LNG and furnace oil on time that left the power generation mechanism in disorder. He said that the PTI government, despite Chief Minister Sindh’s repeated calls, avoided using Thar coal resources for energy production.
He said that the city is faced with about 600 megawatts of power shortfall with a costlier furnace oil to produce electricity.
He said that the K-Electric has its deficiencies that are responsible for the crisis, adding the coalition federal government will soon overcome the electricity shortage
PTI’s Shah Nawaz Jadoon, on a call attention notice, highlighted the soaring inflation in the city, slamming the Sindh government for failing to check the food prices. “People are committing suicides,” from a steep hike in inflation, which left their lives in difficulties, he added.
The Commissioner Karachi is out of scene to control the growing prices of food, he said that the incumbent authorities are indifferent to the costlier items. “Milk price has reached to Rs250 a litre,” he said.
Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that the inflation had not soared until 2018, and blamed the former PTI government for the costlier living.
He linked the poor performing economy to the IMF deal, taunting the opposition members for raising the issue. “Today, they felt there is an inflation that made them cry,” he said that the crisis emerged from the PTI’s tenure.
On a call attention notice, Khurram Sher Zaman Khan, the PTI parliamentary leader, said that the entire city is in a grip of power cuts and claimed that there was no such load shedding during his party’s government.
He said: “we are walking out of the house because of the load shedding.” Mukesh taunted that if they had shame they would have walked out earlier”.
On an adjournment motion tabled by PPP’s Shazia Omer on animal skin disease, Abdul Bari Pitafi, Sindh Livestock Minister told the house that his department has solved the issue.
He said that the department has vaccinated 2.8 million animals so far, adding that the onset of disease outbreak about 4 million vaccines were imported. There are only three cases reported in Sindh at present, he said that the department has imposed emergency in this regard.
He said that the department’s teams are stationed at 37 cattle markets in the province to provide vaccination to the infected animals on time. The house o adopted “The Sindh Civil Servant (Amendment) Bill 2021,” which will enable the transgender community to find jobs.
The assembly also voted to pass “The Ibn-e-Sina University Mirpurkhas Bill 2022”. The Sindh Physiotherapy Council Bill 2022 and “The Partnership (Sindh Amendment) Bill 202,” were referred to the house concerned standing committees for further deliberations.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.