ISLAMABAD – Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the power loadsheddings continued since at least 2007 is expected to last till at least the summer of 2017.
Talking to a press conference, he said, “It will take two to three years to overcome the power crisis in Pakistan, which is likely to end by the summer of 2017.” The press conference was held in response to the blackout caused by tripping on the national grid caused by a Baloch separatist attack on transmission lines in Naseerabad district.
The minister said the damage to the grid would likely be fixed by Monday evening at which point power would be restored to most of the country. The new deadline given by the minister is at least a year longer than the amount of time the government had initially said it would take to end the power crisis when the Nawaz administration first took office in June 2013, when the minister gave effectively the same statement.
Meanwhile, the water and power minister admitted that his ministry owed Rs170 billion to the power companies, which in turn owe much of that money to the government-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO) that faces so severe a liquidity crunch.
