ISLAMABAD, July 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday instructed Wapda to immediately enhance KESC’s electricity supply to 700 megawatts to help alleviate difficulties faced by people in the Sindh metropolis.
The ministry of water and power was instructed at a meeting that was chaired by the prime minister at the PM House. The meeting was attended among others by Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Karachi City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, Secretary Water and Power, Chairman of Wapda and KESC officials.
The prime minister said that it was vital to make efforts to tackle the problem of electricity shortage both in the short- and long-term, adding that the city was the hub of business and industry.
Mr Jatoi assured the prime minister that apart from increasing the supply of electricity to Karachi, his ministry was considering several other measures to augment the city’s power supply.
The prime minister directed the KESC to increase its generation capacity by procuring more power units, adding that the power utility also needed to expand its transmission and distribution system to cater to the increase in demand.
The KESC’s chief executive officer said that the company was taking necessary steps to raise its power generation capacity and renovate and repair its transmission system to prevent recurring outages. Besides, steps are also being taken to improve its customer service, he said.
Prime Minister Aziz praised efforts being made by the ministry of water and power, Wapda, the Sindh government and Karachi city administration to cope with the shortage of power in Karachi.
Meanwhile, the prime minister congratulated chief ministers on passing provincial budgets successfully and said it would accelerate the pace of economic development and improve the standard of living of the people.
The prime minister was talking to chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Akram Khan Durrani and Jam Mohammad Yousuf, respectively, who called on him at the PM’s House on Saturday.
The chief ministers briefed the prime minister about the law and order situation in their respective provinces and steps for improving it.
The prime minister said that the federal government would take necessary economic measures to encourage the trend which was now visible in the open markets.
Political situation at the national and provincial levels was also discussed.
The prime minister said that the spirit of accommodation and congeniality witnessed during the passage of the federal budget needed to be infused in the political discourse outside parliament as it would help promote the cause of the democracy.
Earlier, speaking at the National commission for Population Welfare, the prime minister said that the role of family planning was critical in transferring benefits of the economic growth and development to the people.
He stressed on the need to initiate an awareness campaign to encourage family planning which, he said, “must be within the parameters of our faith, culture and values”. Prime Minister Aziz emphasised the need for adopting a holistic approach to stabilise population by enlisting the support of all segments of the society, especially the ulema, opinion-makers and teachers.
The prime minister said that the federal government had decided to increase the number of Lady Health Workers in the country from 92,000 to 100,000, adding that it would later be increased to 150,000. The federal government had made a record budgetary allocation of Rs4.6 billion for population welfare for 2006-07, he said.
The chief ministers apprised the prime minister about family welfare programmes in their respective provinces.
The Chief Ministers also informed the Prime Minister that provincial population welfare commissions were also being set up and said they would be headed by the chief ministers.
The Education Minister informed the meeting that family planning is being introduced as a subject in educational institutions.
The Secretary Population Welfare made a comprehensive presentation on the vision, objectives and strategies to bring down the present rate of population growth from 1.86 per cent to 1.3 per cent by 2020. Earlier the Minister for Population Welfare, Ch. Shahbaz Hussain informed the meeting of the various initiatives taken by his Ministry to ensure that the objectives of the Population Welfare Commission are achieved.
