ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Country is facing load shedding due to the gross mismanagement and incompetence of the previous government, expressing the commitment to address the situation at the earliest.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Saturday, the prime minister said that he has held several meetings with the Ministries of Petroleum, Power and the Finance in the last few days and the situation is that the Country has the capacity to generate 35,000 megawatt of electricity.
Shahbaz Sharif added that this is sufficient to meet our power requirements. He however regretted that the power plants are closed due to shortage of gas.
The prime minister pointed out that the previous government did not purchase the gas when it was available at the rate of US$ 3 to US$ 4 per unit. He said that today the gas price has reached US$ 30 to US$ 35 per unit.
Shahbaz Sharif recalled that the last government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had signed a gas import agreement with Qatar at a discounted rate, on which the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) used to raise fingers.
The prime minister said that he visited the Rawal Chowk flyover project this morning which had to be completed in 24 months at a cost of Rs 1 billion. He said that we completed several such projects in Punjab in a matter of 72 to 82 days.