Provinces allowed to build power houses: PM

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani — Photo by AFP

KHUSHHAL GARH: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday said the government was undertaking long and short term measures to address its energy needs and has permitted the provinces to build their own power houses to meet the energy shortfall.
The prime minister acknowledged the shortage of power in the country and said effective measures were being taken to address the issue.
He said the federation has asked the provinces to set up power generating units on their own and expressed the hope that it would help to overcome the growing power demand, besides creating employment.
He said the government has increased power generation by 1000 MWs annually, since it came into power and hoped increased capacity would benefit the national industry.
Gilani pointed out that eight per cent of country’s gas and petroleum needs were being met from this area and hoped the Khushhal Garh bridge would help increase transportation of petroleum products, and goods and services.
Gilani said the construction of the bridge at Kund was a long standing demand of the people and it would lessen distance by 80 km to the southern districts of KPK and Fata from Punjab, and provide alternative routes.
The PM also assured the people that the government would utilise all its resources to rebuild the infrastructure that had been damaged due to the unprecedented floods and vowed to build it better.
He said the province had been provided unprecedented funds and an era of development and prosperity has ushered in.
He said under the National Finance Commission Award, the KPK province has been given huge funds for development.
He said the opponents of the government were making false claims of doing the impossible, but said the people had seen them in the past and know the reality. He said the government with the help of the people would transform the country and bring all amenities of life to the under developed areas.
Gilani said all these measures had unnerved the opponents of the government who were leveling baseless allegations against the government, just to get more seats in the Senate. He said the current government came into power with the votes of the people and said he was proud to be the first unanimously elected prime minister of the country.
He said in the remaining last two years of government’s tenure, new mega projects would be launched with the cooperation of the provinces and the federation to generate employment and speed up the pace of development