KARACHI: While congratulating the Sindh government on the start of the third phase of its Thar Coal Mining Project, Senator Taj Haider, Member Core Committee of the PPP, has pointed out that as against the present ex- Karachi Port prices of 270 dollars per ton for imported coal, Thar coal will cost a mere 27 dollars per ton on the completion of the third phase, making electricity generation by the local coal the cheapest among all forms of electricity generation.
Haider said in a statement on Wednesday that it was a pity that instead of starting rail link between Islamkot and Chor which would enable the transport of the ten times cheaper Thar coal to other power plants, this Government was busy round the clock in attacking the Opposition and targeting the Election Commission of Pakistan.
While Gypsum is already being produced from the ash of the power plant at Thar the future program of producing urea fertilizer from Thar coal at an easily accessible location, and the export of Thar coal is also held up because of the absence of the proposed rail link.
Pakistan remains at the bottom of the list of countries as regards the per capita consumption of electricity. This Government never tires of blaming the previous governments for setting up power plants that are producing electricity in excess of national requirements.
Load shedding of almost half a day continues in most areas of our country, besides closure of industrial units and accumulation of massive circular debt because of absence of transmission lines of required capacities, towards which no attention is being paid. Instead, electricity tariffs continue to be regularly pushed upwards on the dictates of IMF.
Haider reminded that the IMF dictated policy of loans and imports was destroying the national economy and bringing misery to the people of Pakistan. Our work force is being compelled to leave the country, many times at the risk of their own lives.
The only way to move our economy forward and to provide gainful employment to our work force was to mobilize our natural resources and to develop our human resources, which any elected and responsible government should undertake as its top priority.
