PM Shehbaz exchanges hot words with AJK Premier Tanveer

Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif and Prime Minister of Azad and Jammu Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas exchanged harsh words when the AJK premier was deliberately not allowed to speak during an inaugural ceremony of the refurbishment project of Units 5 and 6 of the Mangla Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant in Mirpur on Monday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif neither paid a heed to longstanding of demands of Mangla affectees nor made any announcement regarding the resolution of their problems.

Reacting to the arrogant attitude of the prime minister of Pakistan, AJK PM Sardar Tanveer protested against the violation of state identity and rebuked Shehbaz Sharif.

When Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a hydropower project for Kohistan during his speech, the Azad Kashmir prime minister stood up from his seat and said that he did not make any announcement for Azad Kashmir and strongly protested against this behaviour.

To which, the prime minister of Pakistan told the AJK PM that he would talk him later.

Later on, addressing a press conference, the AJK premier said that Shehbaz Sharif didn’t deserve to be the prime minister of Pakistan and do politics.

He said that Shehbaz Sharif is not fit for premiership and politics, adding that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is devoid of moral values and traditions.

The Sardar said that Shehbaz’s attitude was very contemptuous, which was highly condemnable.

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He blamed the prime minister for weakening the Pakistani nationalism in Azad Kashmir, resultantly is weakening Pakistan by making Kashmiris cry.

He appealed to every Kashmiri and the Opposition to take the notice of it and condemn Shehbaz’s behaviour.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the refurbishment project of Units 5 and 6 of the Mangla Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant, carried out with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was in dire need of generating cheap electricity as the energy import bill exorbitantly touched $27 billion.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan, which was already facing immense challenges of economic stability, could not bear the heavy costs of energy import bills and thus needed to utilize alternative sources of electricity production.

He regretted that in 75 years, both democratic and military rulers were responsible for not building sufficient dams to meet the energy needs.

“Had the water reservoirs built on time, the country’s energy import bill would not have swelled to $27 billion,” he said, pointing out that “powerful lobbies and cartels” did not let materialize the construction of dams and launch of solar power projects.

Also, in the wake of recent flash floods in the country, he said, dams were crucial to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The prime minister termed the assistance of USAID for the refurbishment of the units of Mangla dam as a “wonderful example of cooperation” between Pakistan and the United States.

He lauded the valuable grant of $150 million by USAID along with the financial support by the Development Agency of France amounting to 90 million euros besides another pledge of 65 million euros. Also, WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) contributed $178 million (Rs 20 billion rupees) from its own resources, he said.

He expressed satisfaction over the interest of the U.S. to carry out an extension programme of the country’s largest Tarbela dam.

Shehbaz Sharif said the 75-years-old friendship and bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. had further strengthened at the levels of trade and investment.

United States Ambassador Donald Blome said the Mangla dam was a great symbol of U.S.-Pakistan cooperation and added that the U.S. was also assisting WAPDA in increasing the power generation capacity of the Tarbela and Gomal Zam dams.

He said maintenance and upgrades of dams were of critical importance in the wake of climate change and expressed hope that the green alliance between the two countries would prove beneficial for the energy and agriculture sectors of Pakistan.

The General Electric Hydro France Project Director said despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the suspended projects of refurbishment were carried out effectively. He mentioned that six more units of Mangla dam would also be refurbished in the future.

Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Lt Gen (retd) Sajjad Ghani said the refurbishment of the units of Mangla dam was in line with the keen interest of the federal government to provide clean, green and cheap energy to the people of the country.

He said WAPDA had not only initiated new hydropower projects, but also been rehabilitating and upgrading its existing hydel power stations including Mangla to maximize the ratio of environment-friendly and low-cost hydel electricity in the national grid.

Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, Secretary Water and Power Division Hassan Nisar, and senior officials were present.

The prime minister also visited the refurbished units of the dam, where he was given a detailed briefing about the project.