ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday asked ministries to work hard for change and meet the expectations of the nation and warned against any laxity in implementing the government’s retrenchment programme.
“I won’t let his time be wasted and I’m sure you won’t let it be wasted. The only thing that will make a difference is action and implementation. Roll up your sleeves, it is a matter of the country, its resources and the solution to its problems,” the prime minister said in his remarks while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet.
Briefing members about his visits to Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, he mentioned his interactions with world leaders, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said he had formed a committee under Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal for follow-up.
Similarly, he said he chaired a meeting a few days ago to review progress following “very productive” discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang during his visit to China and will hold another meeting on the 20th.
The Prime Minister said that the government has started solarization of 28,000 tube wells in Balochistan to save bleeding of Rs 80 billion annually. He also appreciated the Chief Minister of Balochistan and other concerned ministries and unions for taking the project to the implementation stage.
He told the meeting that the finance ministry has been tasked with coming up with a business plan to solarize the country’s million tube wells, which currently use imported fuel, a burden of $3.5 billion in foreign exchange.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Pakistan has a huge solar energy potential which needs to be tapped to save energy costs and provide cheap electricity to farmers.
You have to accept the challenge and fulfill it. You will become the nation’s hero… if you revolutionize development in your ministries. We will have to work day and night for this,” he noted.
Coming to the retrenchment agenda, the Prime Minister categorically said that he would not listen to the closure of the Public Works Department (PWD) as the government had also found an alternative solution on the lines of Punjab. He said the two-week deadline he had given to close the PWD has already expired.
Chairing a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said ministries must step up their efforts as the goals set by the global lender cannot be achieved through mere rhetoric.
Shehbaz emphasized the importance of self-responsibility in achieving economic goals and urged institutions and provinces to work closely together to achieve this goal.
The prime minister ordered immediate relief in electricity bills, stressing the urgency of improving electricity transmission lines and tackling electricity theft to save significant costs.
