19 October 2004	Tuesday	04 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 18: The Chinese government has indicated that it will not scale down the presence of its personnel working across Pakistan at various development projects following the death of a Chinese engineer in a rescue shootout in South Waziristan.

This was stated by the federal minister for water and power, Liaquat Jatoi, at a function organized by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation to mark the upgrade of its centralized complaint centre, better known as 118.

Mr Jatoi said a large number of Chinese nationals were still working at the Gomal Dam and in Gwadar. Criticizing the terrorists who had kidnapped two Chinese engineers, he said such anti-national elements were out to harm the country, ensuring that no foreign investment came to Pakistan.

The minister announced that the strength of KESC officials at the centralized complaint centre had been increased to deal with an increasing number of electricity complaints.

Earlier, a KESC official briefed the power minister on the working of the centralized complaint centre.

He said the centralized complaint centre worked round the clock, even on closed holidays.

Consumers could obtain duplicate bills from the centralized complaint centre and avail the facility of instalments. He added that consumers could make an advance payment at the centre if they were going out of town for a while.

The federal minister for water and power said the system at the centralized complaint centre had been computerized so that KESC officials could not tamper with the record.

Liaquat Ali Jatoi said it was conceived to bring a change to the system so that consumers were provided with a transparent facility with regard to the complaints lodged by them.

He announced that this system would be further expanded and taken down to the complaint centres of the corporation.

Later, talking to newsmen Mr Jatoi said that our country needed more electricity and he wanted its more generation. For this purpose, the government was trying to attract more and more investment in the power sector.

He said: "Investment would come only when we will generate power and that too on competitive rates."

In this regard, he said, the government was working on three priorities of hydel, coal and gas for which formalities were being simplified and processed without loss of time.

He said he had set up a 'task force', which would submit its report within a week.

He told the newsmen that he had got loadshedding undone and told the authorities concerned not to resort to loadshedding just for minor repairs of plants.

Answering a question about water shortage, Liaquat Jatoi said there had been water shortage earlier but with the recent rains, the storage had built up by over 6 million acres feet and brought down the shortage from 56 per cent to 41-42 per cent.

DAMS: Liaquat Ali Jatoi said as far as dams were concerned the government would do whatever would be in the national interest.

He said whatever the president, the prime minister and his ministry would undertake in the national interest, would be better for all the provinces.

"We all are Pakistanis and there will be no dispute whatsoever among the provinces," Mr Jatoi said while talking to newsmen.

He said whatever problems were being created in the provinces with regard to Kharif crop had been resolved through mutual understanding and the same would be the case in respect of Rabi crop.