PM inaugurates 1263MW thermal power plant project in Punjab

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated on Sunday various development projects across Punjab, including a 1,263 megawatts (MW) thermal power plant in Jhang with a capacity of generating 10 billion inexpensive units annually. Speaking to journalists at the soft launch of various development projects in Lahore, the premier lauded the services of all provincial governments in ensuring peace and maintaining law and order. He emphasized that the incumbent government believes in serving the nation. The PM launched various projects, including Rs50 billion Medical City, Rs52b National Health Support Programme and Rs30b Population Welfare Programme. Besides, he broke ground for SL-3 Lahore Ring Road project, Shadara to Kala Shah Kaku Metro Bus extension project and inaugurated a 1263 MW Punjab Thermal power plant in Jhang with a capacity of generating 10 billion inexpensive units annually. Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former premier Imran Khan had neglected the completion of the gas-fired Haveli Bahadur Shah power plant due to his animosity with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership and the country had to pay an additional whopping amount of Rs77b besides its original cost of Rs74b at that time due to non-functionality. He said the project was to be inaugurated in 2019 but it was stalled due to the criminal negligence of the PTI government and its lack of interest. A huge amount of the national wealth went down the drain, causing huge losses for the poor country, he opined. “Who will be held accountable for such a blunder? It is the continuation of a saga of 75 years for which they were all responsible,” he quipped. Why did the judiciary did not take suo motu for such negligence, asked Shehbaz. He added that he had no intention of victimizing the rival party and did not want injustice for anyone. But, he said, there should be transparent accountability of all those responsible for such failures whether it was done during a dictatorship or democratic regime. Justice should be dispensed without any victimisation, said Shehbaz.  Read PM hails SIFC initiative as ‘engine of prosperity’ With such accountabilities nations move forward across the world, he added. The PML-N stalwart said that they felt ashamed while carrying a "begging bowl" due to the failures of the past government. “It was a huge mishap of our history [the PTI government] which is already strewn with such unpleasant incidents. If we do not change this attitude, we cannot aspire to achieve anything,” he added. Citing the example of China, he said it had now become the world’s second-largest economy. Japan and Germany bounced back economically from the destruction of World Wars owing to commitment, devotion and determination, said the PM. “Let us gird up loins and work hard for the country’s progress as peeping into the past would be useless...Let us wash away the blots of the past,” the prime minister stressed. He also expressed his resolve to revive the country’s economy by eliminating poverty and unemployment. He said that under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the PML-N government had initiated Haveli and Baloki power plants with power generation of 1,200MW each, besides, a 1150MW Bhikki project in Punjab. The prime minister claimed that the Medical City project would be completed with all the allied facilities and would be at par with the world’s renowned health projects, like the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI), which he said is ranked best among Asia’s top institutes. The federal and provincial governments will be jointly executing the project, he apprised. About the 8km SL-3 Lahore Ring Road, Shehbaz said that one part of the road was left, adding that its completion would facilitate a huge number of commuters by minimising vehicular congestion. The extension of the Metro Bus Project would serve thousands of commuters on a daily basis, he added, giving directives for its completion within three months. The prime minister also regretted that due to PTI’s sit-ins at D-Chowk in 2014, President Xi’s visit to Pakistan was postponed. These were the facts that the nation must know about the four years’ rule of Imran Khan who played havoc with the national economy, he said.  The ceremony was attended by the Punjab governor, caretaker chief minister, federal and provincial ministers, parliamentarians and other officials. Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman also highlighted the performance of the coalition government during the past 15 months in which mega projects of public interest were launched.