Nawaz ,Shahbaz are responsible for energy crisis in Punjab: Ch Pervaiz Elahi

Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ch Parvez Elahi has said that for becoming the Prime Minister for third time, Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif had sold the people of Punjab in the NFC Award because of which there was greater and worst curse of gas and electricity here than other provinces. There was no electricity for 18 to 20 hours in cities daily and gas available for just two days in a week whereas there was no electricity in the villages at all, tube-wells were shut, crops were being destroyed and people getting sick, circumstances were rapidly heading towards collective protest in which people from all segments of society would participate, he added.

Addressing a press conference at his residence along with MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema and Ch Zaheeruddin Khan here today, he said that those establishing factories of falsehood and talking tall should see the protest banners of N-Leaguers in Faisalabad whose factories were closed and ovens were non-functional, on rulers seeking pardon people say that they (the rulers) should rather forgive and let them alone.

Ch Parvez Elahi said that gas and electricity crisis prevailing in Punjab now was rulers’ own product, had they not changed the constitutional formula of distribution of resources on population basis in the NFC Award then Punjab would not been suffering so much today, for this change he had withstood and turned down all pressure as the Chief Minister Punjab and had put the condition that the other Chief Ministers should inaugurate Kalabagh Dam project with him and then Punjab would also accept the right at source formula for giving major share to the producer province. He said electricity during our tenure was only Rs 4 to 5 per unit, today it was Rs 14 to 16 per unit, there was no load shedding at all in our time and such worst load shedding was not there even during the rule of the Peoples Party.

Continuing he said further that life of the people has become miserable as a result of there being no electricity and gas, men, women, young, old and children hit hard by hot weather all pray at Sahar and Iftar for getting rid of this govt, but Nawaz Sharif’s statement has been published yesterday about taking notice of load shedding, at least they have come to know how much curse people were undergoing, his brother Shahbaz Sharif was also unaware about 100 people being shot near his house, what kind of rulers they were after all?

Ch Parvez Elahi said that electricity bills were sky rocketing, bill in thousands was being received for one fan and bulb, when bill comes it was like lightening from the sky. He said that despite having the resources and right to produce power at the provincial level, N-League govt had not neither generated even one megawatt of power in the first five years nor now in one year though they have the govt both at the federal and provincial level. Nandipur project after being run on one turbine for some days was now lying shut, he added. He had established Punjab Power Development Board during his tenure at the provincial level and had launched 48 hydel electricity generation projects at the canals. He said despite publicity campaigns of crores of rupees, Nandipur and Guddu power plants were closed, rulers were asking forgiveness on television but still tell lie and now people were saying to them that they (rulers) should rather forgive and leave them alone. He said they were also cheating in the name of Gaddani and Sahiwal Coal Power plants, these could not be started so early at all as billions of rupees would be required for laying the track for carrying coal to Sahiwal.

On a question, Ch Parvez Elahi said that prior to making promises in other provinces Shahbaz Sharif should first honour and fulfill the promises in his own province, he has announced establishing hospital and university in North Waziristan but he was not making Wazirabad Cardiology Hospital functional whereas he had also not fulfilled his promise of establishing hospital and university in Balochistan as well. In response to a question about recent statement of Asif Zardari, he said this was good that he had talked on this realizing the problems of the people. Replying another question, he said we were trying that long march of Imran Khan and inqilab march of Dr Tahirul Qadri should be on the same date.