LAHORE: Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar says all public as well as private sector universities of Punjab will shift to solar energy, which will save billions of rupees annually.
He was addressing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) ceremony between Punjab Energy Department and Public Sector Universities on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by Federal Minister Energy Omar Ayyub, Provincial Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik, Additional Chief Secretary Energy Iram Bukhari and Vice-Chancellors of Public Sector Universities.
Governor Punjab said the government had taken difficult decisions which would deliver results in coming years. He said the government had brought down current account deficit from 20 billion dollars to 3 billion dollars.
He said all universities had been directed to utilise rain-water. He said the corruption that had been done in Pakistan in the previous few years would have destroyed a country like Britain.
He said the incumbent government was taking practical steps to bring reforms in the country because "our priority is the progress and development of Pakistan." He said it was beyond doubt that Pakistan was on the road to development.
While addressing the ceremony Federal Minister Omar Ayyub said that 16 billion dollars were spent annually on buying fuel. Seventy percent electricity is being produced utilizing this fuel at present.
Federal Minister said that by 2030, 70 percent electricity would be produced by utilizing local resources, adding it would provide cost-effective electricity to industries which in turn would give rise to exports.
Provincial Minister of Energy Dr Akhtar Malik said the previous government banned the latest methods of electricity production.
This was done by them to support their own personal interests and to sell LNG on increased price.
On this occasion, an MOU was signed between the Vice-Chancellors of Public Universities and the officials of the Ministry of Energy.
Provincial Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik also presented a two-year performance report to Federal Energy Minister Omar Ayyub and Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020