Nandipur power project Update

[Salman]

* Shahbaz says work being carried out expeditiously on the power project and machinery has reached the site from Karachi

LAHORE: Referring to the Nandipur power project, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should recover looted money as well as profit from the plunderers.
Chief Minister Shahbaz said on Tuesday that the Nandipur power project is of vital national importance but unfortunately this project has remained suspended for two and a half years “due to greed and lust of money of the former rulers”. He said had the former government gave precedence to national interest “over its selfish ends”, the project would have been become operational two years ago and load shedding would have been reduced. The chief minister directed that work on the Nandipur power project be completed before the timeline.
Shahbaz was talking to media after a briefing during his visit to Nandipur power project site near Gujranwala on Tuesday. The chief minister paid a detailed visit to the under-construction power project and inspected its various sections. He was given a briefing on the pace of work on the project. The chief minister directed that the work on this national project be accelerated further so that it could start producing electricity as soon as possible. Speaking on the occasion, Shahbaz Sharif said that work is being carried out expeditiously on Nandipur power project and machinery has also reached the site from Karachi.
He said that every effort is being made to complete this project of national importance at the earliest, as delay in its execution has already caused a huge loss to the country for which the former rulers are responsible. He said that NAB should take notice of delay in the completion of Nandipur power project. He said that the hard-earned money of the poor people was mercilessly squandered by the former rulers which resulted in a loss of billions of rupees to the country. The chief minister stressed upon NAB to bring the elements responsible for delay in the execution of the project to justice.
He said that Pakistan has faced financial loss of billions of rupees due to delay in electricity generation projects and this situation cannot be tolerated any longer. He said that it is in the vital national interest that the projects of power generation be completed as soon as possible so that load shedding could be eliminated from the country. He said that work is being carried out round the clock on Nandipur power project and its completion will be of great benefit to economy. Shahbaz Sharif said that a request has been made to the engineers of Chinese company working on the project to complete it at the earliest.
He said that the government has made sincere efforts to remove all hurdles in the execution of the project and all-out cooperation would be extended for its speedy completion. The chief minister was informed that the key work has been completed regarding the initial preparation of the project and installation work of cables to link the power project to national grid has also been done to a large extent, while it will be finished six months before the stipulated period. He said that the project would cost $329 million and would produce 425 megawatts of electricity. The chief minister also met senior officials of the Chinese Dong Feng Electric Power Company on the occasion