LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif declared that it was to change destiny of the nation and country and “let us all forget petty differences and get united to start the process of building the country with honesty and determination. He emphasised that it is time to change darkness with light and with collective efforts and wisdom move forward in this regard.
The Punjab chief minister was addressing the foundation lying ceremony of 1,320 megawatt coal power plants in Sahiwal on Friday.
Earlier, the Chief Minister pressed the button to start construction work of the main power building of 1,320 megawatt coal power plants. Chairman Ruyi Group, Qiu Yafu, President Hauneng Shandong power company, Wang Wenzong, Chinese investors, Chinese diplomats, Chinese Consul General Yu Boren, Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, Provincial Ministers, Members Assembly, senior officials and administrative officers were also present on the occasion.
Shahbaz Sharif said that today was an auspicious day and a glorious day with regard to eliminating the shortage of electricity as construction work of main power building of coal power plants in Qadirabad was being inaugurated and 1,320MW electricity from coal would be obtained from these plants. He said that these power plants were the first and the biggest project of power generation from coal in Pakistan. He said that investment of China in Pakistan was not merely investment but a splendid gift for Pakistan and its people. He said that work had been started expeditiously on 1,320MW project in Sahiwal two and half months after the visit of Chinese President. The Punjab CM said there was no doubt that Pak-China friendship was higher than Himalayas, deeper than ocean, sweeter than honey and stronger than steel. He said that Sahiwal coal power projects were proof to this fact. Shahbaz Sharif said that when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came into power, the issue of energy was very serious. He said that the Prime Minister worked very hard for the solution of this issue with the help of China and during the visit of Chinese President to Pakistan, China Pakistan Economic Corridor package of $43 billion package was announced out of which 33 billion dollars is the Chinese investment for energy projects and does not include loan of even a single penny.
Referring to terrorism, the chief minister said that besides shortage of energy, elimination of terrorism was another big challenge but due to bold decision of the political and military leadership, the menace was being controlled and Pak army had rendered supreme sacrifices in the war against terrorism. He said that Pak army, police, institutions concerned and provincial governments had shown splendid performance in the war against terrorism due to which positive results are being witnessed.
The chief minister claimed that work on various power generation projects including coal, solar, hydel and others projects of power generation through alternative sources was in progress.
Similarly, work is also being carried out speedily on energy projects in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Northern Areas.
Referring to the sit-ins last year, Shahbaz Sharif said that the evil game played in the garb of sit-ins last year was now a part of history and the way economy was destroyed through protests, the impact of this would be faced by the economy for a number of years. He said that in the garb of sit-ins a brutal game was played with the destiny of people of Pakistan. He regretted that the projects faced extraordinary delay and the nation now knew that the conspiracy of sit-ins was hatched much earlier and their meeting was held in London, adding that cruelty shown to the country and the nation till December could not be forgotten. He blasted that these nine months were very difficult for the country as an unpardonable crime was committed to the destiny of the nation which the nation of 200 million people would never forgive. He said that due to sit-ins a number of projects were undermined temporarily and such sad incidents happened which were highly tragic.
The Punjab CM pointed out that the coal power projects would start generating electricity from December 25, 2017, however, informally the Chinese companies had assured that the project would be completed by September 2017. The chief minister thanked the Chinese President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Chinese ambassador, Chairman NDRC, Chinese Consul General, senior authorities of Chinese companies as well as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Federal Ministers Kh Asif, Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Kh Saad Rafique and authorities of other federal and provincial institutions for playing their role for furthering these projects.