Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif blames PTI for energy crisis in country

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government for the ongoing energy crisis in the country and said that the load shedding across the country is due to the "mismanagement and incompetence of the previous government". Yesterday, while speaking at the National Assembly, Pakistan's PM said, "The load shedding in the country is due to gross mismanagement and incompetence of the previous government," Dawn newspaper reported.

He said that the country had the capacity to generate 35,000 megawatts of electricity but after the closure of several power plants that were running on gas and oil, different parts of the country were facing load shedding for the last few days. Sharif also said that the country is facing a shortage of around 6,000 megawatts of hydel power, where the electricity is generated from the melting of glaciers and the availability of water but still he insisted that the country had sufficient electricity to meet its requirements, reported Dawn newspaper.

Pakistan PM regretted the fact that the power plants which had been set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants which can produce about 5,000 megawatts of electricity, had been closed, according to Dawn newspaper. He further informed that the power plants which was to start generating power in 2019 had not yet started.

Pakistan PM alleged the PTI-led government for not purchasing the LNG when the price was just USD 3 per unit and now the price surged and stood at around USD 30-35 per unit. While appreciating his party, Sharif said that during the Pakistan Muslim League-N reign the party had reached an agreement with Qatar for the import of LNG, but PTI always finds faults in it, reported Dawn.

He further added that due to the sanctions imposed by European countries on Russian oil after they launched a military operation in Ukraine, the gas was not easily available to several countries. The prime minister said the PTI government was indifferent to public issues and it was "stone-hearted".

He, however, assured the house the new government was trying to resolve issues facing the country on a priority basis.