It seems that the official quarters concerned with power generation are somehow determined to continue pursuing wrong priorities despite the fact that long hours of power loadshedding has virtually crippled the national economy. The economy, Im afraid, would take some years to repair now. The much hyped National Energy Conference held in Islamabad by the PM after his US Yatra had offered some hope. Mr Gilani had obviously realized during his US tour that getting civil nuclear technology is now out of question. India had been constantly hammering home the point of Pakistans poor track record in nuclear proliferation and we had no answer. With all these factors as they are, its good to see markets closing down at the scheduled time every night. The government offices, including the commercial banks, are also observing two days off every week although there is no word about how many air conditioners have been removed from their various establishments in order to minimize energy consumption. The outcome of the moot and the decisions taken therein are being publicized by the concerned department, which is something to be appreciated. Responding to the urgency in government initiatives, PEPCO has also issued a statement about having a long term plan to generate hydropower as well as use the indigenous coal and other renewable resources. In all fairness, this should have been given the top most priority in the crisis we are in as these are the only feasible options left for Pakistan after US has said no to the civil nuclear technology deal. -ASIM MUNIR, Rawalpindi, May 8.