PML-N’s claim of ending load-shedding is
as true as Nawaz Sharif being “sadiq” and “ameen”
By Shakir Lakhani Published: December 10, 2017
An aerial view of
buildings and homes during a nationwide power blackout in Karachi. Pakistan was
hit by a nationwide blackout for more than two hours after the breakdown of a
major plant caused power stations to stop working across the country on
February 25. PHOTO: AFP
It all started with the inauguration of the 660 megawatt,
coal-fired power plant in Port Qasim, by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. He startled everyone
by claiming that this is the most
environment-friendly power plant of the country. Being an engineer, he should
have known that nothing can be worse for the environment than producing
electricity by burning coal.
This is the reason why most coal-fired power plants are being shut
down all over the world. The prime minister also knows, but failed to mention,
that such coal-fired plants in Port Qasim, and other areas near Karachi, will
result in the city being covered in smog which will be worse than the one
experienced in
Lahore.
I thought this government would have by now realised that people
have stopped believing what it says, but apparently, Nawaz Sharif’s cronies
wanted to give further proof of their incompetence.
This was evident in the statement given by Federal Minister
for Power Division, Awais Leghari, who said that the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had fulfilled the promise it had made to
the public four-and-a-half years ago, of producing surplus electricity in the country. He claimed that the
overall electricity generation had increased to 16,477 megawatts, which is
around 2,700 megawatts more than its demand.
It is clear that this is another attempt to fool the public. The
demand for electricity is always less during the winter – the real test will be
during March and beyond, when the demand escalates and inevitably leads to
more load-shedding. This is due to the fact that our main problem
is not less power production, but an aging infrastructure. Our transmission lines were laid decades
ago, when our electricity requirement was about a third of what it is today.
The government, instead of increasing generation capacity, should
have concentrated on improving the infrastructure instead. There is no sense in
making more electricity as long as the transmission and distribution network
lines cannot support it. Furthermore, the bigger challenges being faced by
the country are electricity theft and circular debt (but more on that later).
What followed his statement was undoubtedly the biggest shocker
yet – Leghari tweeted that 65% of Pakistan has been made free of load-shedding.
Allahamduliah #Pakistan has
started producing surplus #electricity. More
than 65 % population of Pakistan will be shifted on #zero load
shedding midnight. We have ended urban rural disparity on load sheeding.
Another promise fullfilled.#PMLN#RoshanPakistan
I have been in close contact with people across the country,
asking them if they think the situation has improved, but every single one of
them has told me there has been no change in the situation; they continue to
suffer as they did before. There has been no reduction in load-shedding.
Leghari further claimed that load-shedding would continue in areas
where power theft was over 80%.
Great. So, wherever there is load-shedding – which means majority
of the areas of the country – we must assume that it is due to power theft. Is
the underlying message here that most of the people in the country are thieves,
just like most of those in the parliament?
Not to be outdone, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, also jumped in, suggesting that his party’s government has
overturned darkness in Pakistan. With a straight face, he claimed that the
“credit” of wiping out load-shedding goes to the PML-N government, as
load-shedding has become “history” now.
Load-shedding cannot become history as long as those who voted for
PML-N keep indulging in electricity theft, and the chief minister
does not do anything to stop them.
Nawaz, our deposed prime minister, wasn’t far behind either. He
astounded everyone by saying that by ending load-shedding a year earlier than
promised, he was guilty of not being “sadiq” and “ameen” (honest and
truthful). He has, of course, proven that he is neither honest nor
truthful by making claims like the ones aforementioned, which has already been proven
false, as load-shedding is still rampant across the country.
As mentioned earlier, in addition to the aging
infrastructure, circular debt is also a major problem, one which the
government simply does not have the will to resolve. The debt is equivalent to
the amount that power consumers (mainly government departments) have to pay the
power producers. Due to insufficiency of funds, power producers are unable to
generate enough electricity, as a result of which there is rampant
load-shedding across the country.
The circular debt is over Rs800
billion, with over Rs400 billion flows till June 2017. The government
reduced it somewhat in the beginning of its tenure, but it has gone up once
again. In fact, there was no need to make new power plants at all, as even
though the installed generating capacity of the country was increased to
25,100 megawatts, actual power generation nonetheless went down compared to
previous years. Retiring the circular debt, improving the infrastructure and
controlling electricity theft are all measures that should have sufficed.
However, since new power plants mean more commission and
kickbacks, our ministers went with this option, despite the fact that the solution was
staring at them right in the face.
Nawaz may be able to fool his voters today, especially since it is
winter, but he cannot fool the rest of us with his outlandish claims about
eliminating load-shedding. Come summer, and the people will
know just how “sadiq” and “ameen” he really is.
Engineer, former visiting lecturer at NED Engineering College, industrialist, associated with petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets @shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)
https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/61188/pml-ns-claim-of-ending-load-shedding-is-as-true-as-nawaz-sharif-being-sadiq-and-ameen/
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