More than one foreign passport must be handed over: Marriyum

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that people owning more than one foreign passport would be forced to submit the additional ones to the government.

Speaking at a press conference, she said such passports would be seized by the government through Passports Act 1974. The last day for people to willingly submit their extra foreign passports is 31 December 2022.

“We will also create a framework to stop this practice in future and procedural work is expected to complete till 31 December 2022,” she said.

She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will visit London to meet former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss matters related to Pakistan’s politics and economy.

Talking about a cabinet meeting held earlier in the day, she said PM Shehbaz has asked the minister of food security and research to work towards boosting crop yield.

“For next season, PM Shehbaz has asked the ministry to enhance wheat production and revive its exports,” she said. “Despite the prevailing difficult conditions, the people of Pakistan will hear good news.”

In its meeting on May 9, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet decided that wheat would be sold at Rs800 per 20 kg while sugar would be priced at Rs70 per kg and both rates have been approved by the cabinet, she stated.

Export of sugar banned

Meanwhile, Aurangzeb announced Mohammad Masood’s appointment as director of Ordnance Factory Board and Retired Admiral Salman Ilyas's appointed as managing director of Shipyard Engineering Works.

She announced that Fawad Asadullah Khan would be appointed director general of Intelligence Bureau while the resignation of former Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) chairman Muzammil Hussain was accepted by the cabinet.

“A member from the Finance Division will be given additional charge of WAPDA chairman until the government appoints new one,” she said.

Rs1 billion needed to limit load shedding

Sitting alongside Aurangzeb, Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said that the government will require Rs1 billion to limit load-shedding in the summer.

He said he has reached out PM Shehbaz and the cabinet for the additional resources and expects a positive response.

Load-shedding challenge: Rs329bn is needed: Power Division

“On 26 April 2022, when I received the charge of the ministry, the nation was witnessing 8-12 hours of power cuts,” he said.

He announced that PM Shehbaz has called for drafting a new power policy to aid energy generation of the country in the next 10 years.

According to him, solar and wind power were cost competitive while power production from hydel sources was also conducive for Pakistan.

“Coal is no longer competitive for Pakistan as its price has risen by 3-4 folds in the past five months,” Dastgir said. “Thar coal can also be used to produce electricity.”

He added that 7,104 MW power generating capacity was lying idle and criticised the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for its inaction. He detailed that 5,800 MW generation capacity was not being utilised because fuel was not procured by the former leadership in time.

Moreover, 1,300 MW of generation capacity was lying idle due to maintenance and restoration work.

“PM Shehbaz promised to end load shedding from May 1 and he fulfilled the promise,” he said.

‘Load-shedding has been reduced to zero’, claims ministry

Dastgir noted that Pakistan produced 22,634 MW energy in the past 24 hours, which included generation from nuclear sources as well.

Speaking about power cuts in different cities of Pakistan, he added that the government was allowing load management in areas with high line losses to minimise its losses.