May 26, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1429

GUJAR KHAN, May 25: Tent pegging and horse riding are the traditional sports of the Potohar region and such activities symbolise the courage, valour, and fearlessness of the people.

This was expressed by Federal Minister for Water and Power and Tourism Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, while speaking at a prize distribution ceremony after the competition of tent pegging at a public fare at Khaniara Sharif Dulmi near Gujar Khan on Sunday evening.

The competition was participated by the teams of horse riders from Sargodha, Attock, Mianwali, Sahiwal ,Jhelum, Gujar Khan and other districts of Punjab province. Nawab Atta Muhammad Malik of Kot Feteh Khan dominated the competition after a tough contest with the Sargodha section, while Syed Zuilfiqar Shah of Khaniara Sharif Dulmi enchanted the spectators with horse dances.

The minister on the occasion said the government was conscious of the hardships being faced by the people because of power shortage and that short-term measures being taken by the ministry would start delivering results by the end of the next year.

He hoped long-term measures to tackle the problem of loadshedding would help overcome the crisis completely.

The minister said energy crisis was one of the example of bad management on the part of previous governments as, he added, the rulers never gave a serious thought to the need for generating power to meet the growing energy demands of the country.

He also urged the people to use electricity judiciously to save it for industrial purposes.