Govt under fire over power crisis

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik Friday told the Upper House that the government had provided proof of Afghanistan and Indias involvement in insurgency in Balochistan to the heads of the government of both countries. Responding to the point of order of Senator Jamal Leghari, Malik said that Afghanistan had been told that there were camps in that country training perverted Balochi youths involved in terrorist activities. He said that the government for the first time had taken the issue on record with the Indian Government. He said that he himself held a meeting with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and provided him the proof regarding training camps in Afghanistan where Balochi insurgents were being given training. He said that President Karzai had agreed to start three bio-metric check posts on Pak-Afghan border which would become operative in August. He said that Karzai had assured to close down those camps, which were being run by the Indian intelligence agencies on Afghan soil. The Minister said that Balochistan and its people had been badly ignored by the previous regimes and the present government was committed to giving them their rights with a view to removing their grievances. He said that the government had taken on board all political leaders of the province to move forward for resolving issues. The Interior Minister said that all fourteen points recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to improve law and order situation in the country were being implemented in letter and spirit. Referring to the interview of a Baloch separatist leader in London to a local private channel, Malik said that the PEMRA had taken notice of the broadcast adding that action would be taken in this regard. The Minister said that talks with politicians, civil society members and other stakeholders were the only solution to the problems of Balochistan but made it clear that parleys were out of question with those who wanted independence. He said that it was appreciable that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had raised the issue of Balochistan with his Indian counterpart in Sharm El Sheikh. Earlier, Senator Jamal Leghari of PML-Q on a point of order exhibited his fears that situation in Balochistan was worsening like East Pakistan. He said that Pakistan could not afford separation of Balochistan urging the government to take necessary measures before the time was out of hand. Referring to separatists leaderships sitting in London, the Opposition Senator asked the government to approach the UK Government to expatriate them because of their involvement in anti-Pakistan activities. Terming former President and Prime Minister 'thieves treasury benches here on Friday said that the current energy crisis in the country was due to wrong planning of Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz. Speaking on a point of order, PPP senior leader Senator Raza Rabbani said that the ill planning of former President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was the real reason behind the existing power outages in the country and asked them to come home to face the nation. He proposed that a commission should be constituted to conduct an inquiry into the matter of privatisation of KESC in Shaukat Azizs government. Raza Rabbani also suggested that the government should take over KESC and appoint its operator as the private company had failed to run the affairs of KESC as per legal agreement. He said that due to negligence and slackness of the KESC administration and its so-called prudent policies masses were facing the brunt. He also criticized the government for giving a free hand to KESC adding that Karachi had witnessed some worst and horrible blackouts in the history of Pakistan on June 17 and July 21. Since last many days, more than 2,500 industrial units have been closed, he stated. He was of the view that Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz were guilty and asked them to face the music in front of the general public and courts of law as they were the ones who were the sheer culprits of the present-day situation. Senate also witnessed some obnoxious and repulsive scenes as members of the ruling coalition raised slogans against Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz terming them thieves, looters and plunderers of national exchequer. They stood from their respective seats in the House and raised slogans like Pervez Musharraf thief, Dacoit Shaukat Aziz, Both are Looters, etc. They were asking them to come and face the courts. Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, Senator Wasim Sajjad speaking on a point of order said that it was a wrong decision to shelve the KBD project in view of the current power crisis. Wasim Sajjad asked the government to give a deadline when the people would get rid of load-shedding. He said frequent power outages were not only affecting the peoples lives but also casting negative effects on business, agriculture and industries. Upon this the ANP and PPP Sindh Senators protested and raised a hue and cry. They said that KBD was a controversial project and thus shelved by the government and now there was no point in debating this issue. Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi urged the government to pay back circular debt of IPPs, adding that power rentals would in no way be in the interest of the country due to its ten times higher prices. He said that unless the KESC was not de-privatized, the national economy would not improve. Senator Tariq Azeem said that the television commercials being funded by PEPCO as an austerity drive was just the wastage of public money. Azeem said that all the claims of the government had ended in fiasco as it had asserted that it would plunge the country out of power dilemma with various projects but to no avail. Senator Shahid Bugti was of the view that through proper usage of existing capacity of power production, the government can control 70 to 80 per cent energy crisis. Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf told the Upper House that if load-shedding was not ended by December 31, he was ready to face the music adding undoubtedly due to so-called prudent policies of the previous government the country was facing such consequences. He said that due to heavy credits of the past government, the incumbent government was unable to cope with overwhelming expenditures. He said that for immediate needs, thermal and rental plants were the only way with which the country could cope with power dilemma adding that the construction of dams and new projects would take some time from now. He said that more than 4 billion dollars investment had been made in the field of energy to tackle the energy crises through thick and thin. He said that the former government was responsible for power crisis in the country saying due to non-payment in the past, the circular debt had ballooned to Rs 400 billion. The Minister said that the schedule of load-shedding sometimes got disturbed due to certain reasons which included blowing up of power pylons in subversive activities or through natural calamities. The Minister said that within a few days Mangla Dams tunnel was repaired which was now generating 400 megawatt of electricity. Senators from both treasury and Opposition benches unanimously demanded of the government to restore their Hajj quota. Speaking on a point of order, Senator Shahid Bugti raised the matter before the House and urged Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to restore Senators Hajj quota through an executive order, which was endorsed by all other members of the Upper House. Responding to the point, Leader of the House Syed Nayyar Bokhari told the House that the decision to withdraw Senators quota was taken in a Cabinet committee meeting. However, Chairman Senate Farooq H. Naek asked the Leader of the House to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister and the Minister concerned to get the decision undone. He asked Nayyar Bokhari to report the House on Monday in this regard as it was a unanimous demand of the Senators. The Chairman Senate also informed the House that Senator Dr Javed Leghari had tendered resignation from his Senate seat. Earlier, the Business Advisory Committee of the Senate decided to take up the post-operation rehabilitation steps in Swat and Malakand Division, situation in Balochistan and law and order across the country during the 55th session of the Senate. The meeting of the business advisory committee was held here under the chairmanship of Chairman Senate Farooq H. Naek. Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Jamali, Leader of the House Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Leader of the Opposition Senator Wasim Sajjad, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Minister for Local Government Abdur Razzaq Thahim, and other parliamentary leaders of the political parties attended the meeting. It was also decided that the current session would continue till August 7 and the session would not be held during the holy month of Ramazan. The Senate also expressed gratitude to the President for his address to both Houses of Parliament, which assembled together on 28th of March this year. A motion to this effect was moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan that was adopted unanimously by the House. In the morning, the proceedings of the House were suspended for more than an hour due to mechanical fault in the mike system. Later, the Chairman Senate Farooq H Naik adjourned the senate session till 5:00 Monday evening.