A RECENT advertisement in newspapers by the ministry of water and power boasting 10,400 MW of investment projects in the energy sector amounting to $20bn caught my eye.

These projects are only on paper and may never see the light of the day.

An advertisement by Lesco in newspapers on Feb 25 invited expressions of interest from parties willing to sell excess power to Lesco in four summer months and one winter month.

Two months have since passed and it seems no one is interested in buying surplus power from private generation companies. No feedback from Lesco is forthcoming in this regard. If this remains the state of affairs, how can the government fulfil its promise of ending loadshedding by 2017? The power ministry must ensure that all available potential for power generation is utilised and the people given relief.

The availability of continuous power not only ensures the livelihood of labourers, it also gives the much-needed revenue to the government. It is time incompetency was eliminated and hardworking and efficient leaders were given the task to get rid of loadshedding.

A sufferer

Lahore

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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