On the cards: PEDO restructuring approved by CM

Employee union unhappy with new system of subsidiary companies

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has approved the summary to restructure Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) which aims to transform the entity into a company with subsidiaries.

Insiders at the energy and power department said the summary was sent to the chief minister and returned after getting his stamp of approval. “The finance department has also approved the summary and we will now proceed to implement this,” said a senior official of the department, requesting anonymity.

The official rejected reports of resending the summary to the finance department. “We sent one single summary and that was approved,” said the official.

Under the summary, PEDO is to be transformed into a company called the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Power Company Limited (KPPCL) with a chief executive officer and a board of directors. The plan suggests the establishment of special purpose vehicles (SPV) or subsidiaries which will execute and operate the projects in the hydel sector.

Insiders in the department said each SPV would have a separate CEO, staff and BoD. The staff of KPPCL and all the SPVs will be given salaries at market rates and be picked from the market on the basis of competency.

Each power subsidiary’s staff and CEO will find financing for the hydroelectric dams and execute the power projects, while the KPPCL will have equity in all of them. Once the projects are completed, they will become the property of the K-P government.

“The government does not have enough funds for all projects so it is opting to create subsidiary companies to generate funds and then execute the projects,” the official said.

The PEDO employees union has objected to the move as new staff would be offered hefty salaries. “The union should have no issues with the move because they can also apply for jobs in the companies and can get the same salaries,” the official said. He added the government would now issue advertisements to hire people from the market.

PEDO CEO Akbar Ayub Khan confirmed the approval of the summary from the CM House. “I have no information about what is in the summary, but I have been told by the secretary that the summary has been approved.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2016.