THE controversy developing around the Nandipur power project is yet another reminder that not all issues ought to be turned into political firefights.

The project began in the closing years of the Musharraf government, when a series of power projects were initiated to help meet a projected deficit. Papers were signed one month before the general election in 2008 and construction began. Then in 2010, the project became controversial as the top members of the PPP government were accused of stalling it for kickbacks. As the issue dragged on, machinery imported from China rusted at the port. The PML-N took up the cause as emblematic of the PPP’s misrule, with Shahbaz Sharif taking a personal interest in the matter. Upon assuming power, the PML-N government has turned the Nandipur project into a symbol of its resolve to push things forward in the power sector, and to right the wrongs of the PPP government.

And there begin the problems. There is mounting evidence that the PML-N has allowed the Nandipur project to become an issue of ego over substance. This has produced haste in the renegotiation of the terms under which the Chinese contractor would take up the project again, producing a price tag more than double the original. It has led to bad decisions, such as commissioning one small turbine of the project far too early in a frantic attempt to show results, and running it on a fuel that it is not designed to be operated on. In short, ego is leading to haste, and haste is warping the technical and cost parameters of the entire project.

Similar haste has led to power generation projects in Uch and Guddu lying idle because nobody thought of making the arrangements for power evacuation. In the case of Nandipur, not only is this raising legitimate concerns that the electricity from the project will ultimately be too expensive for the strained power purchaser, it is also attracting return fire from the political opposition. Initially, the Supreme Court was brought into the picture when the cost escalation of the project became an issue. Now the opposition in the Punjab Assembly is again threatening to move the courts alleging “corruption” in the project. A lot of energy is being wasted due to this unwarranted injection of politics into a technical project, and that is no idle metaphor.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2014