KARACHI: The federal and Sindh governments on Thursday agreed to take into confidence traders, industrialists, restaurant owners and other stakeholders before enforcing measures to conserve energy.

A meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif took place at the conference room of Terminal 1 in which a roadmap of energy conservation came under discussion.

Federal ministers Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood, Abdul Wasay, Dr Musadiq Malik, Power Secretary Rashid Langrial and Sardar Moazzam were part of the federal government delegation.

The CM was assisted by provincial ministers Imtiaz Shaikh, Saeed Ghani, Jam Ikramullah Dharejo, Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon, Health Secretary Zulfiqar Shah and Energy Secretary Abu Bakar Madani.

Khawaja Asif briefs Sindh CM about federal government’s intended measures

According to a statement issued from CM House, Khawaja Asif told the chief minister that various energy conservation measures were presented to the federal cabinet in October and the prime minister had constituted a committee to fine-tune the measures.

He added that the committee held five sessions to identify and strategies potential energy efficiency and conversion measures.

Citing the recommendations of the committee, the defence minister said 20 per cent of the staff would be allowed to work from home once a week which would save Rs56 billion annually. If closure of commercial markets at 8pm is observed, it would save Rs62bn per year. If alternate switching of street lights is observed, it would save Rs4.5bn annually.

CM Shah thanked the federal government delegation for its visit and for sensitising him about their roadmap and said that saving one unit of electricity was cheaper than producing one unit of energy.

He added that realising the fact that improvement in energy efficiency and conservation was one of the easiest and least cost-effective pathways to improve the country’s energy sector sustainability.

He said that Sindh as a whole and its urban centres especially Karachi alone got a huge potential for energy conservation and improving efficiency.

The CM said that the immense potential had made Sindh a key player with its vital share to be the leading contributor in achieving the energy conservation targets at the national level.

He pointed out that his government by utilising the provisions given in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act had recently established the Sindh Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency for proper coordination, facilitation and enforcement of the provisions of the law within the province.

He said that realising the need for electricity in public service buildings during the daytime, Sindh had already solarised 265 health facilities and during the current financial year schools, hospitals, water pumping stations and prisons would be solarised through development projects.

After thorough discussions and deliberations, it was agreed that all the stakeholders, particularly traders, industrialists and restaurant owners would be taken into confidence by the prime minister and chief ministers at their respective levels so that their cooperation could be ensured.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2022