The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Water and Power has directed the concerned authorities to utilise all means in recovering the outstanding dues and without taking political pressure into consideration. MD Pepco Tahir Basharat Cheema told the committee that on the directions of the president, reconciliation of Rs 19 billion disputed amount has been done and very soon it will be paid to HESCO.
The meeting was especially convened to address the issue of power load shedding and shutting down of power looms in Faisalabad. The members of the committee and officials concerned discussed the problems of power looms industry of Faisalabad, which is on the verge of collapse due to on-going load shedding. The meeting was also attended by minister for labour and manpower, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah and Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf besides other members.
Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah told the committee that it is the resolve of the Government to end power load shedding giving relief to the masses and the government will leave no stone unturned in this regard, adding that it will take some time, but the government knows the problems faced by the masses.
He said that the Prime Minister has also directed the concerned quarters to resolve this issue on war footing and the PM has called a meeting on energy crisis on April 19 in which chief ministers of all the four provinces are invited. He said that the heads of political parties and people from different walks of life are invited to discuss and finalise proposals to end this national crisis.
The committee also discussed the "Power Looms Crisis" in detail and it was noticed that people have established power looms in residential areas, which has become a major cause of interruptions in power supply, although industrial areas in different parts of the country are given more electricity. The meeting was attended by Muhammad Ijaz Virk Advocate, Muhammad Yousaf Talpur, Anjum Aqeel Khan, Salahuddin1, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Sajjad-ul-Hassan, Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Bilal Yasin and other senior officers of the ministry.