ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed satisfaction over functioning of 720MW Karot Hydel Project and pledged to overcome the electricity generation crisis in the country by restoring all halted power projects.

In a tweet, the prime minister said the Karot project was the first hydel project established under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for cooperation in the execution of project.

Later, presiding over a meeting to review measures to end outages, he said ending loadshedding was the responsibility of the coalition government.

He said the government was focused on taking effective measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to people.

Mr Sharif said the government was cognisant of the problems being faced by the people during the high temperatures, adding that every effort would be made to address the power shortfall immediately.

The prime minister said that the lack of maintenance of power plants during the tenure of the previous government resulted in the power shortage. He said quashing the deal with Qatar for supply of LNG was a big mistake committed by the previous government.

PM Sharif said that despite commitment, the revolving account was not opened with China.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2022