News Desk
\nSheikhpura
\nPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday, in a thinly-veiled reference to the PPP, hit out at his critics, saying: \u201cthose who are responsible for load-shedding [in the country] are now threatening to hold protests.\u201d
\nHe was speaking at a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the 1,180 megawatt (MW) Bhikki Power Plant in Sheikhpura.
\nThe Bhikki power plant is the first ever LNG-based power plant in the country. It will, for now, contribute 717MW to the national grid. It was completed over a period of 18 months.
\nHis brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, tweeted the following image soon after the inauguration:
\n\u201cWe have completed a massive project in 18 months. It is unbelievable that we have done this. Other projects in this country have been under construction for 30 years,\u201d PM Sharif said.
\n\u201cIf we had not personally supervised this project, it would have taken 15 years as opposed to 18 months,\u201d he said.
\nEarlier this week, the PPP had warned it would stage protests across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if excessive and unscheduled power load-shedding in the province was not curtailed immediately.
\nDismissing the opposition party, the prime minister said: \u201cIf you had worked with honesty, this country would have been successful today.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are trying to fix your mistakes,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cWhen we came to power in 2013, we picked up work on these development projects.\u201d
\nThe prime minister spoke extensively on the development projects undertaken during his tenure, repeatedly criticising other parties for not doing enough within their own constituencies.
\n\u201cWhy weren\u2019t the motorways ever expanded? Why is it that the federal government had to take the initiative of starting new infrastructure projects in Karachi?\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe provincial government should fix the law and order situation in Karachi and create a scheme for drinking water public transportation in Sindh. We are happy to do this but shouldn\u2019t the Sindh government have taken the initiative on its own,\u201d Sharif said.
\n\u201cWe have broken the back of terrorist organisations. Was this only our prerogative? Why didn\u2019t past governments do anything when they were in power?\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are not looking at 2018 \u2014 we are looking ahead for the next 10, 20 years,\u201d the prime minister said.
\n\u201cThe country will continue to prosper. The children of the poor will get education \u2014 this is our dream. I pray these dreams come true,\u201d the prime minister said.
\n\u201cStop with your lies,\u201d the prime minister said in a last swipe at his opponents. \u201cStop this blame game, otherwise you will continue to lose and only the PML-N will remain in the field,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cPakistan zindabad, Pakistan paindabad,\u201d the prime minister said as he wrapped up his speech.
\nBurgeoning power crisis
\nThe power plant\u2019s inauguration came after the prime minister ordered action against officials who failed to plan in advance for the summer season a day earlier, as the electricity shortfall crossed a record 7,000MW.
\nDue to the shortfall, the duration of load-shedding in urban areas had increased to an average 14-16 hours. Loadshedding in rural areas was even worse, rising to 20 hours.
\nThe prime minister had expressed \u201cdissatisfaction over the negligence of departments concerned\u201d over the latest power situation that has put the government in an awkward political position at one of the most challenging times and ahead of the Panama Leaks case judgement.
\nPresiding over a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy, Nawaz had directed all resources to be put to use to reduce the current shortfall and provide maximum relief to people through as much reduction in load-shedding as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk Sheikhpura Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday, in a thinly-veiled reference to the PPP, hit out at his critics, saying: \u201cthose who are responsible for load-shedding [in the country] are now threatening to hold protests.\u201d He was speaking at a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the 1,180 megawatt (MW) Bhikki Power Plant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n