KARACHI, Dec 6: The Sindh Board of Investment and the Sindh Revenue Board are encroaching on the domain of the environment and alternate energy department, said Sindh Environment and Alternate Energy Minister Sheikh Afzal on the floor of the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.

The minister said this while responding to a question raised by National People’s Party MPA Arif Jatoi during the question hour.

NPP legislator Arif Jatoi asked if wind power projects set up in Thatta over 35,000 acres had failed to produce the expected amount of electricity as was claimed in a feasibility report, and if the land that had been allotted on subsidised rates been taken back from those running the project.

Mr Afzal said that in Feb 2011 the land allocated to investors through the Alternative Energy Development Board was cancelled as none of the projects were completed. Subsequently the allotments were reviewed on a case-to-case basis after taking additional bank guarantees and undertakings that projects would be completed by 2013. He said that land allotment could again be cancelled if they failed to meet the deadline.

The minister said that presently 32 projects by wind power generation companies were in different stages of completion.

Replying to a question raised by PPP lawmaker Munawar Abbasi, he said that only one alternative energy project was producing around six megawatts of power.

Replying to a question raised by MPA Arif Jatoi whether the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Engro Coal Power Project (ECPP) had been done or not, the minister said that the EIA had been submitted by the ECPP to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency on Sept 4, 2012 while a public hearing, after due publicity, had been held on Nov 12, 2010 in Islamkot and presently the assessment by technical experts was being held.

PPP’s Jam Tamachi said that it looked that not much work had been done by the department, so why the department should not be closed down or merged with some other department to lessen the financial burden it was causing on the public exchequer. The minister replied that he (the minister) could not decide this as only the government could take a decision in this regard.