KARACHI, Feb 19: The federal minister for water and power, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, has said that natural resources were in abundance in Sindh and coal reserves of Thar, Sondha and Lakhra could be utilised in a better way to generate electricity.

He stated this at a high-level meeting, presided over by the chief minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, regarding development of coal reserves and their use in power generation at the Chief Minister House.

The minister said the government was now emphasizing on power generation from coal instead of water resources, and added that provinces would be extended all out support at the federal government level in this regard.

He said coal reserves of billions of tonnes were present in the country, and therefore, the government had decided to excavate coal, provide facilities to investors and simplify procedures. Other precious mineral resources were also available in Thar, he said.

The meeting was informed that a total of 184.123 billion tonnes of coal reserves were present in the Sindh province. Mr Jatoi said that efforts were under way to generate electricity by installing windmills from Keti Bandar to Gharo, where air pressure was higher than normal.

He informed that like China, the United States and other countries including Malaysia too wanted to invest in the power generation sector. The minister further said that investors could earn back, what they would invest in power generation in three years.

The government, he said, would help in development and generation of job opportunities, pointing out that the federal government had decided to give special priority to power generated from coal.

He said told that President Pervez Musharraf had expressed interest in power generation from coal, particularly in Thar and Lakhra in Sindh. A survey would also be conducted in Hyderabad and Badin districts in this regard, he added.

The ministry in consultation with the Sindh chief minister had decided to explore natural resources in the province and hoped that the ministry of petroleum and natural resources and the Sindh Coal Authority would coordinate, Mr Jatoi informed. A working group would be constituted, which would hold meetings on a regular basis, he said.

The meeting also decided to form another committee comprising provincial ministers of mineral resources and minister of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Provincial Minister Irfanullah Marwat, Federal Secretary Ahmed Waqar, Chief Secretary Sindh Mohammad Aslam Sanjrani, Secretary Mines and Mineral Development Hameed Akhund and others attended the meeting. - APP