Govt completes 20 grid stations worth Rs 25bn: Abid Sher

LAHORE: State Minister for Water Division, Abid Sher Ali, said on Tuesday the present government has the credit of completing 20 power grid stations with a total cost of Rs 25 billion, while ongoing projects have also been completed with Rs 6 billion cost during last four years.

Talking to the media here at an open katchery to resolve complaints of power consumers, he added that when PML-N took over the government, load-shedding duration was then up to 20 hours but now there is zero load-shedding on 95 percent of the country's grid stations.

Abid Sher Ali said that electricity generation capacity had so far been enhance by 8,500 mega watts due to untiring efforts of former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, adding that another 4000 MW would be added to the system by March 2018.

The state minister listened thoroughly to the power consumers' problems and issued on the spot directives to authorities concerned for their early addressal.

He said that such open kutchery would also be held in various parts of the country including Gujranwala, Jehlum and Peshawar, assuring that DISCOs (power distribution companies) would definitely address every unjust step against their respective consumers. He said that he would pay surprise visits to various circle of the DISCOs to check their service delivery.

He said the past corrupt rulers plundered the national exchequer and ruined the institutions and it is always the PML-N government that streamlined the affairs of the state to put it on path to speedy development.

For instance, he said, in its past four years, the present PML-N government has enhanced the country’s electricity generation capacity to the proportional which could not be generated even earlier 70 years of Pakistan's inception.

Abid Sher Ali said that PML-N government has pulled the country out of darkness of load-shedding, and we will also pull KPK from darkness to light by ending energy crisis.

Regarding over-billing, the Minister of State assured that respective staff would be held responsible if found involved in this practice, adding that those earning bad name to the department would face departmental action at all costs.

He said that PML-N's opponents had for the last four years been trying to send them packing. He added that Asif Ali Zardari filled up his Swiss banks accounts and Ayan Ali helped him in money laundering, while Sharjeel Memon also committed huge corruption in Sindh. What Chaudhry brothers have now retaining while their bicycle has also been stolen, he said and asserted that Sheikh Rashid has no more role in the country's politics.

He also criticized the political cousins-PTI's Imran Khan and PAT's Dr Tahirul Qadri.