Coal project shelving charge on Nawaz

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh General Secretary Taj Haider on Tuesday alleged that it was Mian Nawaz Sharif and his party who stopped the 5000MW-Keti Bundar project, the Thar Coal Project, for which PPP made Coal Development Authority and who stopped Oil and Gas exploration in Sindh.He said that the 5000 MW Keti Bunder Project running on Thar Coal was expected to come on line in 2000. This project and other projects based on indigenous fuels would have made Pakistan an energy surplus country. He said that it’s a mockery that those who are responsible for the energy crisis are shouting over load-shedding crises in the country. He claimed that the sabotage of development of home-produced fuels in Sindh and stopping of energy projects in Sindh were done with the sole purpose of creating a justification for the controversial Kalabagh Dam project. He claimed that the greatest damage was done by revising the agreed tariff structure of the IPPs. Tariffs that envisaged a two cent reduction after every 10 years and the handing over of the IPPs after 30 years were changed to a high uniform tariff for the entire life cycle of IPPs. Under the agreements concluded by Benazir Bhutto IPP tariffs would have come down to two cents per KWH in 2015 and the plants would be handed over to us by 2025. Taj Haider concluded that the building of infrastructure and especially new power plants takes a lot of effort, finance and time saying that unfortunately, Mian Sahib does not realize the hard facts because he has never built anything for the people.Dr Adib Rizvi meets Qaim: Renowned urologist and head of Sindh Institute of Urology Transplant (SIUT) Dr. Adeebul Hasan Rizvi today called on Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah at C.M House. He discussed the matters of SIUT and presented problems that he faced. Chief Minister Sindh assured his support for resolving the problems soon.