LAHORE    -    Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif on Sunday directed the speedy completion of solar and wind energy proj­ects, saying that it was a priority of the govern­ment to encourage the production of electric­ity through renewable sources of energy.

While chairing a meet­ing here in Lahore, the prime minister said that renewable sources would produce low-cost and environment-friend­ly electricity.

The participants of the meeting were in­formed in detail about the pace of work on the ongoing solar and wind energy projects and those being delayed for different reasons.

The meeting was also told that besides the current 10,000 mega­watts renewable en­ergy projects, other renewable power proj­ects of 6,000 mega­watts could also be considered to produce environment-friendly and low-cost energy.

The Federal Minis­ters Ishaq Dar, Khurram Dastgir, Ahsan Iqbal, Special Assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, Adviser Ahad Cheema and offi­cials concerned attend­ed the meeting.

Addressing the meet­ing, Shehbaz Shar­if pointed out that the last government did not complete the solar and wind energy projects started by the previous gov­ernment of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). “The 220 million people of Pakistan suffered due to the crimi­nal negligence and incom­petence of the last govern­ment,” he observed, adding , work on the solar pow­er projects of 10,000 mega­watts was continuing at a fast pace under the incum­bent government. He di­rected the relevant institu­tions to immediately present a strategy for fully benefit­ing from the available solar and wind resources as they would help in saving pre­cious foreign exchange be­ing spent on the import of expensive fuel. He assured that all obstacles in the way of renewable energy proj­ects would be removed