A little after a year in office, the government seems to have run out of ideas and will power—the latter being more disappointing and dangerous for a country that is struggling to stay afloat. An unfortunate policy paralysis has allowed our problems to grow in magnitude to serve as existential threats. Pakistanis, this time around voted for a party that prides itself in focusing on bringing about economic growth by helping creating an environment that is conducive to business activity and after a little more than a year in office, it has anything but rewarded the faith of those who still hope for a better future. Where is it, Mr. Prime Minister—your unflinching resolve to take the bull by its horns and lead Pakistan out of darkness towards growth and prosperity?
We are now on the highway to hell and while that in itself might be a dramatic thing to say, it holds true. With temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius and load-shedding spanning between 17 to 20 hours a day, Pakistanis are indeed paying a hefty price for their choices. The circular debt stands at Rs300 billion yet again and the government seems to be least pushed about it: no measures were taken to stop the problem from becoming as grave as it was when the government assumed power and no funds have been allocated to retiring it now. Where is it, Mr. Prime Minister—your plan to revamp the energy sector that we heard so much about during the days when you were campaigning for votes? The man you deemed fit to handle the Water and Power portfolio now awaits divine intervention, having run out of things to say to placate the masses.
The power shortfall now stands at 7,000 MW with load-shedding as the only option for a party that after five years of reigning over Punjab and more than a year in the center is still struggling to acquaint itself with the country’s problems. The policy inertia lingers on and the honest consumer keeps paying for the government’s inaction be it the energy portfolio, power theft and the corruption within the related sectors. Just recently, the chief minister of KPK led the rally against load-shedding and marched to the WAPDA office in the provincial capital where he said that the province should be given 2,000MW of electricity instead of the current 1,300 MW adding that Peshawar Electric Company (PESCO) should be handed over to the provincial government if WAPDA found itself unable to do so. Where is it, Mr. Prime Minister—your promise to work on increasing the country’s power generation capacity on war footings? The man who serves as the government’s front-face is full of regret and has made the government’s handicap public—removing deficiencies in the system is something that the government has no control over, he says. (Points for honesty!)
The team that is apologetic and ashen-faced after failing to live up to its promises has successfully disillusioned the common man. Work on Bhasha dam will now be completed in 2037 which means that we are more than two decades away from actually adding something to the national power grid. It is needless to add that given the time frame allotted the chances of Bhasha dam ever becoming a reality seem bleak. The Nandipur project will also do little to assuage our woes given that it will run on oil—dependence on furnace oil for generation of electricity has already put us in a precarious position and such measures will only aggravate our problems.
So, where is it Mr. Prime Minister— every single word that drew Pakistanis in huge numbers to the polling booths on May 11 last year? Statesmen do not eat up their words, sir. The mandate awarded to you by the people gives them the right to expect more from you and your team. Killing aspirations and aiming to silence critics one typo at a time will not help anyone’s case—least of all, yours.
By Minahil K.
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