PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Monday that the load-shedding period will be reduced to three-and-a-half hours from tomorrow (Tuesday).
He made the announcement while addressing a press conference along with Minister of State for Petroleum Musadiq Malik, Power Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan and Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb.
Abbasi started the press conference by blaming the previous government for the lack of energy. He said the country’s electricity demand during the summer has exceeded 25,000 MW.
He highlighted that when the present government took over, the power generation capacity was 17,000MW which was increased to over 21,000MW in the last three weeks.
He further said that the government and the cabinet were sorry for the current loadshedding but sought time to resolve the current issues.
“Today we are generating 21,000 MW, which means we have a shortfall of 4,000 MW,” he said.
We have decided that from tomorrow (Tuesday) we will reduce the loadshedding to three-and-a-half hours, he said, adding that additional money was paid while oil was also arranged to ensure this. “We expect loadshedding to come down to 3.5 hours by tomorrow.”
He said that in the next phase when coal is imported, the load shedding period will be reduced to less than three hours by June 16. “By June 30, it will be less than two hours.”
He expressed hope that the government would be able to reduce it further in the month of July.
The PML-N leader further said that the government is not interested in making excuses and is focusing on fixing the issues plaguing the country.
He slammed the former government for the lies it had told about setting up power plants, saying that Pakistan was unable to meet its electricity demand for the summer.
The press conference comes days after Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed The authorities were asked to come up with an “emergency plan” within 24 hours, aimed at reducing power loadshedding.
He had issued the instructions while presiding over a meeting on Saturday. The meeting came amid reports of hours-long load shedding in various parts of the country, leading to high temperatures among people.
In the meeting that lasted for five hours, the situation of load shedding in the country was reviewed and measures to reduce power shortage were discussed.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif over the weekend suggested The nation takes advantage of “365 days of sunshine” and operates the markets during the day, as opposed to the tradition of “opening markets at 1 pm and closing them at 1 pm”.
“Our markets open at 1 pm and close at 1 pm. This” [practice] is not found anywhere in the world.
3,500 MW of electricity could be saved – except in Karachi – if the markets set the right trading hours. “Tough situations require tough decisions,” he said.