ISLAMABAD – Taking the bull of energy crisis by horns, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday announced a number of measures including five-day working week in government offices, making the business centres, marriage halls and other commercial entities time-bound and slashing the power use in government offices by half with ban on use of air-conditioners before 11am.
The Prime Minister also announced end to unscheduled loadshedding and reducing the overall scheduled loadshe-dding by 30 per cent to give immediate relief to the general masses.
Giving the broad outlines of the decisions taken at the National Energy Conference, participated by all the four Chief Ministers participated along with their teams of technical experts, the Prime Minister said that it was the elected leadership of the country which came up with a comprehensive and consensus roadmap for the country to overcome the serious power crisis facing the country.
Flanked by all the four Chief Ministers and Federal Ministers of Water and Power, Information and Petroleum and Natural Resources, the Prime Minister dispelled the impression that the government was having the capacity to produce power but was not doing it owing to financial constraints and posed a question that how a government could take steps to create troubles for itself.
He was all praise for the Chief Ministers for coming up with a prudent proposals for both short-term and long-term measures to manage this crisis and assured the masses that their representatives were putting in their best to come up with a lasting solution to the problems.
Starting with the power conservation measures, the Premier said that all the government departments starting with Presidency, Prime Minister House, Governors offices and residence and down to all government departments half of the lights would remain off, however, only authorised officials would use air-conditioners and that too after 11am.
He further said that all government departments would observe two holidays a week and this decision would be reviewed by July end. All the markets would be closed after 8.00pm except the pharmacies, bakeries and hotels. The marriage halls would be restricted to hold functions in the evenings not exceeding three hours span.
The use of any sort of illumination was banned with the immediate power supply cut-off to neon-sign boards and other commercial displays and switching off every alternate streetlight was approved.
Source: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/23-Apr-2010/PM-unveils-mega-plan-to-arrest-energy-crisis
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