K-Electric (KE) must take responsibility for endangering the lives of Karachi's residents and stop unannounced load-shedding and overbilling, opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi during a sit-in outside the KE office on Tuesday, warning that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would approach the Supreme Court on the matter.
Naqvi stated that the PTI had issued a charge sheet against KE and urged the federal government to appoint a director for the power utility. He called for the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of load-shedding in Karachi, under section 184 of the Constitution.
PTI leader Haleem Adil Shaikh alleged that, "KE has been looting Karachi of billions of rupees and repaying it citizens with loading-shedding and deaths." He added that the power supply company was responsible for deaths during the heatwave. Adil announced to widen the protest and hold demonstartions outside KE's regional offices.
Speaking along similar lines, PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman dubbed KE "killer electric." He said that more power utilities must be established to end KE's monopoly. Zaman demanded that Prime Minister Imran Khan sent relevant ministers to Karachi to discuss the issues regarding KE.
Grand Democratic Alliance MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, who also attended the sit-in, stated that "the citizens [of Karachi] are facing electricity and water supply suspension in hot weather."
"Several protests have been staged against KE but the mafia ruling it is so influential that both the provincial and federal governments have failed to take any action against it," alleged Abbasi.
She maintained that KE had been demanding more land from the Sindh government under the mandate of setting up two new power plants, however the provincial government was not complying with this request. Claiming that the government provided land to all other institutions, Abbasi demanded that the KE, too, be provided the land.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2020.
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