PM Shehbaz Sharif orders NDMA to dispatch relief items immediately to rain-affected areas

ISLAMABAD (APP) - Prime Minister Shehbaz on Monday said that he had directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) asked to coordinate with the provinces and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities to dispatch relief items to the affected areas.

Addressing a meeting held to review the power sector’s performance, the prime minister said that the heavy rains were affecting different areas of the country and expressed condolences over the loss of precious lives in the rain-related incidents.

Emphasizing the improvement of power transmission network, he directed the Energy Ministry to maximize the utilization of renewable energy resources to reduce the country’s oil import bill by billions of dollars.

“Ultimately, we have to move to renewable energy. The oil import worth billions of dollars can be controlled by using alternative resources like solar, wind and hydel. Make cold calculations and I believe, you will be the winner in the long term,” he remarked.

The prime minister said utilizing renewable energy resources would also ensure riddance from the crude oil tanker mafia acting as parasites and eating up the national money.

He pointed out that the country currently imports oil worth US$27 billion to meet its power and transportation needs, a figure that could be significantly reduced by transitioning to alternative energy sources.

Discussing the ongoing drive against power theft, he lauded the performance of the Punjab government and expressed the hope that the other provinces would also follow suit to overcome the challenge.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said that strengthening the country’s power transmission system required utmost efforts and investment otherwise the power production and investments in the sector would go down the drain unless the flaws in the transmission network were removed.

He asked the Energy Ministry to engage world-class consultants to suggest the government ways forward to boost the country’s power transmission system.