Kalabagh dam scrapped, says Pervez Ashraf

DAWN, Sunday, 24 May, 2009

By M. Hussain Khan

The government has rejected this project and I am making this statement as minister of water and power: Pervez Ashraf.—APP

 

HYDERABAD: Federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Kalabagh Dam project has been scrapped and that he is making this statement with authority.
He was talking to journalists at a rest house here on Saturday after addressing a workers’ gathering.

‘Kalabagh Dam project has been scrapped and I am making this statement as minister of water and power. The government has rejected this project,’ he said when his attention was drawn to a statement of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali that Kalabagh Dam project had not been scrapped.
The power minister didn’t answer when pressed why Mr Aseff had made such a statement while talking to journalists after the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting in Islamabad.

He said that all power projects of Wapda were on time and the shortfall of 3,500 megawatts of electricity would soon be overcome.

He said that 165 megawatts of electricity had been made available and the prime minister would soon inaugurate a 235 megawatts power house in Lahore.
Around 3,000 to 3,500 megawatts of electricity had been injected into the system through improvement in supplies of oil and gas, Pervez Ashraf said. Wapda has managed to upgrade its system.

He said that out of Rs185 billion, Rs85 billion had been paid by the government towards outstanding dues of Pepco against power distribution companies.

The remaining amount was being cleared through circular debt by the government, he said, adding that the government felt relatively comfortable this year as far as power crisis was concerned.

He disagreed with a questioner who quoted Federal Labour Minister Syed Khursheeid Shah as saying that load-shedding won’t end by December this year.

‘His (Shah’s) statement has been made somewhat spicy in media,’ he said, pledging that load-shedding would come to an end by December.

He said that Wapda was opting for hydropower generation in addition to solar, solid-waste and windmill energy. He said that steam energy was also being worked out and a contract had been signed with a Turkish firm.

The minister said that the government intended to ensure electricity for tube-wells and streetlights through solar energy.

About Thar coal, he said the government would go for international competitive biddings and best companies would be chosen for the project because there were several companies based in South Korea, China and Australia which had shown interest in the project.

Through energy conservation, he said, 1,000 megawatts of electricity had been saved.

Pakistan ready to phase out N-arms if India does the same: Haqqani

The News, Lahore, Sunday, May 24, 2009

Asks US media not to confuse terror fight with other issues

WASHINGTON: Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani on Saturday said Pakistan was maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrent capability and its ongoing anti-terrorism effort should not be confused with the nuclear programme.

“Everybody in the United States government who knows anything about nuclear weapons knows that Pakistan has a very secure nuclear programme. It’s a very limited nuclear programme to maintain deterrence vis-a-vis our (eastern) neighbor (India),” Haqqani told CNN. “Pakistan is willing to engage with our neighbour for a comprehensive settlement in which the nuclear weapons can be phased out by both countries,” he added.

He said top Obama administration officials have acknowledged Pakistan’s strict nuclear safeguards and are assured that Islamabad would not divert the US aid to its nuclear expansion of its nuclear programme. “I think that assurance has already been given by no less a person than Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) of the United States government — Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are safe and Pakistan is not going to expand nuclear weapons capability to a point when it becomes a threat to any country in the world, including our neighbours.”

The envoy ruled out sharing information on secret location of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. “I don’t think any country knows or tells the location of all its nuclear weapons to any country in the world. The Soviet Union never did it with the United States until an — after comprehensive negotiations between the US and Soviet Union started.

So whenever that starts between Pakistan and its eastern neighbor, we will move in that direction.” He asked the American media to desist from shifting the attention away from fight against terrorists, who, he stressed, pose a threat to the United States. “But I don’t think Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are a threat to the United States. I think the threat to the United States right now comes from terrorists that might be in Afghanistan or in parts of Pakistan. And Pakistan is doing a great job fighting those terrorists right now.”

“I think we don’t need to go into whether it’s expanding its nuclear arsenal or not. We are maintaining our minimum deterrence vis-a-vis our neighbour — I think that a lot of times when countries like Pakistan are discussed, the media — which includes you, my friend — has a tendency to create some kind of shorthand about those places. So talking about nuclear weapons is one of those things.”