LAHORE - Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on Information and Spokesperson for Government of Punjab Hasaan Khawar has said that, during previous governments, the issue of providing public resources to South Punjab never exceeded political sloganeering because rulers sitting in Lahore were not cognizant of the harsh ground realities being faced by the people of South Punjab.
“Today, thanks to the ring fencing of funds allocated for South Punjab, these resources cannot be spent on any other area. Even today when it comes to legislation regarding South Punjab, all the political parties except PTI back off,” he said while addressing a meeting of stakeholders on National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Policy Draft 2020.
Hasaan was of the view that the Opposition, which had not been able to hold a long march in the last three years, will continue to make such hollow statements for the next two years as well.
Referring to the Murree tragedy, he said that the report of the inquiry committee was in the final stages and would be released soon.
Terming the said policy as coherent and comprehensive, Hasaan Khawar said that policies have been formulated in this regard in the past too but lack of awareness and relevant capacity to act in the institutions, government and general public has been a stumbling block. Hasaan Khawar said that industries and business circles should point out the shortcomings in this policy so that the government could amend it accordingly. He further said that energy efficiency was the future and the government would do its utmost to ensure implementation of this policy in order to conserve energy.