KARACHI: Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh on Wednesday held the federal government responsible for causing inordinate delays in the execution of power-generation projects in the province, saying that the matter was directly linked with the Centre, that was showing lethargy towards the issue.

Furnishing a statement and answering different questions during Question Hour in the provincial assembly, he said that the Sindh government could only facilitate the federation for power generation. “We have done our part quite well, but the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government seems less bothered in this regard,” he added.

The minister said that several projects of energy generation from wind and coal had been pending with the federal government “which opted for power generation from oil to facilitate oil mafia”.

Energy minister says the federal govt using oil to generate power to ‘facilitate oil mafia’

To a question as to what steps were taken by the Pakistan Peoples Party at the highest level to raise issues of the province with the Centre, the minister said that he himself had written three letters to the federal government during the last six months asking it to expedite the projects, but to no avail as no response was so far received.

He said that Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also had raised the issue in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He stated that the PTI-led federal government wanted to carry out projects through the Sindh governor, which according to him, was not admissible at all under the Constitution.

When asked to state reasons for establishing an airport in Thar with hefty funds, the energy minister said that it was constructed to cater to investors.

To a question regarding uplift work in Thar, the minister stated that as many as 200 families who were displaced due to mining were given alternative places and they would also be given Rs100,000 annually and free-of-cost electricity by the provincial government.

207 licensed coal mines

He also informed the lawmakers that total 207 licensed coal mines existed in the province that had produced 822,444 metric tons coal during the first nine months of last year.

He said that the Thar coal project was a mega scheme which had 12 different blocks.

He said that one of the blocks was completed where six power projects were established by investors. “The Shanghai Electric Company of China will also explore this region for investment,” he added.

To another question, he said that the Sindh Coal Authority was established under the Sindh Coal Authority Act, 1993 and was governed by a board.

Giving the composition of the board, Mr Shaikh said that the energy minister was its chairman, while chairman of the provincial planning and development board, provincial finance and energy secretaries and four members of the provincial assembly were its members.

To a question regarding the relationship of the Sindh Coal Authority with the Thar projects, he said that the leverage of the SCA went to the extent of pre-feasibility after execution of a memorandum of understanding with investors.

“After the approval of pre-feasibility by a technical committee, recommendations are made to the directorate of Coal Mines Development (CMD) for issuance of mining lease and licence,” he added.

He further clarified that the SCA only facilitated the investors to achieve the objectives as set with the directorate of CMD.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019