Power outages back in PTI regime despite 'zero-loadshedding' in 2018: Shehbaz

"As you know in 2013 the country witnessed 20-20 hours loadshedding that destroyed agriculture and industry and gave a blow to the national economy. The PTI sit-ins also added to the woes, but its PML-N government that set up energy projects and managed to overcome power outages," Shehbaz said while speaking at a presser.     

He said though the time passed never returned, but Imran Khan Niazi has brought the same time again, adding today hundreds of thousnads of people have rendered jobless and the economy has collapsed.

"There is no justification of loadshedding striking back when Pakistan had already overcome the energy crisis."

NAB-Niaz nexus failed to prove a single penny corruption in the energy projects in the last three years, the PML-N leader said, adding power plants se up in Pakistan in their time are still the cheapest one.

"Balochistan is witnessing 10-hour loadshedding. Is it new Pakistan?" he questioned. He was of the view that it was a herculean task to end 20-hour power outages from the country. 

Shehbaz said the govenrment could not prove a single penny corruption against PML-N leaders and even forensic audits of mega projects proved nothing.

He alleged the incumbent government could not finalise a gas agreement despite its huge claims because it had been providing gas to its favourites, adding that it is up to the public to decide who takes practical steps for them and who merely delivers speeches while standing atop a container. 

"Despite hydel power plants being less costly, the government could not manage to build a single dam in the country," he said. "At present, it the government is benefitting from capacity payments worth billions of rupees."

The PTI-led government failed to come up with long-term power projects, and the short-term ones it introduced turned out to be excessively costly, the PML-N leader added.      

They made tall claims of building 350 dams, but could not construct even a single one to their credit, Shehbaz lambsated at the PTI.

"In our times the NEPRA tariff was 850,000 per megawatt. The PMLN constructed energy projects even less than than half price. What Nawaz Sharif and PML-N could do more?" he questioned.