Khurshid Shah urges engineers to make optimum use of nuclear technology

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, has called upon the engineers to use their vision and expertise for further development of Pakistan to bring it at par with the developed nations of the world and for this purpose the government’s political support will be available to them.  

He was speaking as the chief guest at a dinner hosted by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) at Hotel Beach Luxury, Karachi, on October 5.

Over a thousand engineers belonging to various disciplines from all over the country attended the dinner along with PEC’s Vice Chairmen from Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa.

The Federal Minister credited the engineers and scientists for having made Pakistan a nuclear power.

“People are the fountain head of real power but the engineers are the real backbone of the country," Khurshid Shah remarked while making a special mention of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan for his contribution in transforming Pakistan into a nuclear state.  

“Our engineers have the vision and the capability to take the country to another level. We will continue to march forward if they utilize their energies in a more productive manner,” he emphasized.

He pointed out that currently Pakistan was facing many pressing issues with the energy being on top of the list.

“If our engineers can construct Chashma Nuclear and Taunsa Barrage projects with better planning, they can surmount this issue as well. I am confident that the engineering community can lead the turnaround. You have been blessed with enormous skills and your proven track record makes us proud,” Khurshid Shah noted.

He said that Pakistan cannot afford to spend 60 billion rupees every month just to import furnace oil for producing 6-7 thousand MW of electricity.

He recalled that the country started establishing furnace oil based power units in 1978 only because of its being the cheapest fuel at that time, without planning for the future prospects and the result was that as against a 60 paisa per unit production cost at that time, electricity was being generated today at Rs 21 per unit.

The Federal Minister observed that if the country does not buy furnace oil, it plunges into darkness and of makes such a massive spending, the national kitty goes empty.

He advised the engineers to work on wind, solar and other modes of power generation with emphasis on effective utilization of Thar Coal which is bound to bring a revolution in the economy as the government has decided to have all power generation projects in future to be coal based.  

“It would cost Rs 200 billion if coal is imported to produce 20,000 MW of electricity but if indigenous coal is used and power generation costs Rs 8 per unit, this tariff will remain the same even after 10 yeas. The present government’s strategy is to use our own coal reserves which are one of the largest in the world and this would provide such a big boost to our economy that by 2015, the dollar can come to the Rs 60 level,” he thought.

Stressing upon the engineers to work on solar energy, he pointed out that if the foreign engineers can manufacture cheaper solar panels then why not ours could do the same by mobilizing their talents and energies.

“If there is a will, there is a way. We have to build the future of Pakistan with your vision and our political will. Together we will make a stronger and more resourceful Pakistan,” he hoped. Khurshid Shah said that despite various ups and downs and the heavy odds being faced by the present government, it was meeting the challenge with all patience and tolerance as it believes that the country cannot sustain conflicts between institutions.  

“Instead of indulging in conflicts, the country should have gone towards a direction where Pakistan would have been a power nation and it believes that instead of political in fight, the country should move towards socio-economic programmes with emphasis on health and education,” he stated.

He paid tributes to President Asif Ali Zardari who, he said, did not maintain his “qibla” on one direction but if he went to US and UK, he also went to China and Russia and is the first leader to promote economic ties with India.

He reckoned that the government could be criticized unjustly but the fact is that revenue collection during its rule jumped from Rs 900 billion to Rs 1900 billion and it is the first government to return 1.2 billion dollars against the loan obtained from World Bank.

Similarly, he said, the foreign remittances increased from 5.2 billion to 13 billion dollars because of their efforts which resulted in the increase of work force abroad from 2.5 lacs to 4 lacs. The Federal Minister said that despite the resource constrains, the present government spent billions on Swat migration, 2010 floods and 2011 rains having distributed the amount to the people in a transparent way.