ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Monday constituted a committee comprising federal ministers for Petroleum, Water and Power and Advisor on Finance to review the energy situation and come up with recommendations to improve the power situation in the country.
Sources said that Finance Ministry despite commitment had not yet released Rs 10 billion to the power sector and loadshedding could not be reduced despite promises by the three concerned ministers at a joint media briefing on Friday that loadshedding would be eased in the next couple of days. The problem remained unresolved which compelled the Prime Minister to reconstitute the committee of the same ministers.
A meeting was held at the Prime Minister House to review the energy situation in the country which was attended by Minister for Water and Power, Dr Musadiq Malik, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Sohail Wajahat H Siddiqui, Minister for Communication, Ports and Shipping, Advisor on Finance, Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, Chairman Wapda and senior officials of the Ministries of Finance, Water and Power, Petroleum and Prime Minister's Secretariat.
The meeting was informed that the current generation in the country was 9200 MW against a suppressed demand of 13000MW. The Prime Minister was informed that only 55 mmcfd gas was being provided to the thermal power plants against the promised 150mmcfd gas. The meeting also reviewed the recovery of dues and the quantum of funds required to produce optimum generation to reduce the load shedding in the next month. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources briefed the meeting that presently 1670 mmcfd gas was being produced in the country.
The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Water and Power to ensure that uninterrupted electricity was available in the country from the evening of May 10 for the next 36 hours to ensure that the process of polling and counting of votes is completed smoothly.