UAE-gifted 350 MW power plants not installed yet

[Naveed Yaseen]

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN
ISLAMABAD (May 22 2009): The Ministry of Water and Power has failed to finalise the location for installation of 320 MW "outdated" power plants, gifted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite the fact that the country is passing through its worst ever power crisis, well-informed sources told Business Recorder on Thursday.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Parvez Ashraf had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the relevant UAE authorities and worked out a detailed plan for implementation of the agreement for the dismantling, packing and shifting of the plant to Pakistan.

The sources said the UAE government's gifted power plants were not in use in the UAE as they had been replaced with modern plants at the time of signing of the MoU. Pakistan's Ambassador to UAE Khurshid Ahmed Junejo has registered protest with the government for not providing complete information to the UAE government as to where these plants are to be installed.

The sources said the contract department of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) was in the process of completing formalities relating to phase-II of transfer of plants to Pakistan. "They have reminded the embassy to provide complete information relating to exact installation locations in Pakistan," said the sources.

According to sources, the Minister for Water and Power written a letter on February 19, 2009 to his counterpart in the UAE and identified two locations, ie Faisalabad and Sheikhupura. However, the ADWEA contract department had informed the embassy that there was no additional space available at Sheikhupura location for installation of plant, the sources added.

The sources said that the process of getting "obsolete" power plants as a gift from the UAE had stared during Shaukat Aziz's tenure. Raja Parvez Ashraf, before leaving Dubai a couple of months ago, had stated that the people of Pakistan would always remember this precious gift, which they were receiving with love and sincerity from brotherly country of the UAE.

He said that the Pak-UAE relations would receive a further boost as a consequence, and expressed the hope that the two countries would help each other in the energy sector in the near future. It may be mentioned here that Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nayhan had offered to donate used power plant of 320 MW capacity as a gift to Pakistan during the last visit of the President of Pakistan to the UAE. The MoU was signed in the presence of President, Asif Ali Zardari in Dubai on February 4.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=41882