Loadshedding has increased, and is likely to go beyond the 18 hours a day that is beginning to afflict many. As fans, coolers and air-conditioners go on, and begin to run for ever longer, electricity demand is going to increase. The situation is particularly worrisome because the hot weather has not yet set in, when temperatures soar into the 40s, and the sun bakes down on the Indus Plain. The pity of it all is that a number of generation plants are simply not running, because of a failure to import furnace oil in time.
It is almost as if the previous PTI government had left this particular crisis behind, because in the days when the days of the government were clearly numbered, the politicians concerned, like the PM and the Energy Minister, were more concerned about the government’s survival, while the bureaucrats concerned, were carefully following a policy of doing nothing. It is almost as if the previous government had left this crisis to occur, because the ordinary consumer, already hard hit by inflation, unemployment and economic pressure, now has to fast in Ramazan in heat without benefit of electricity.
Whether or not the landmine was deliberately set, it is now the responsibility of the present government. Assigning blame is essential to prevent repetition, but it will not provide any relief at the present, when it is most urgently needed. The government must also keep in mind that the current crisis in Sri Lanka, which has resulted in a default, also showed up in the inability to import furnace oil for its power plants, leading to prolonged and widespread loadshedding. The government must also pay attention to another part of the crisis, which the PTI was unable to solve, that of circular debt, which intimately involves furnace oil imports. The government must act prudently in handling this crisis, if it wishes to avoid having to face a long hot summer of discontent.
