Sparks fly over power crisis in Sindh assembly

The Sindh Assembly witnessed yet another protest on Friday as lawmakers from the treasury and the opposition locked horns and exchanged heated words over the issue of load-shedding in the province.

Such was the pandemonium in the house that even though it was private members' day - when MPAs from all the parliamentary parties are supposed to present their bills for legislation and resolutions - not a single such item was discussed.

Matters became tense when, following a question and answer session, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh stood up, requesting speaker Agha Siraj Durrani to give him time for a policy statement on load-shedding.

Granted permission, the minister began criticising the federal government and Federal Energy Minister Omar Ayub for the province's power crisis, demanding the latter's resignation.

In his statement, Shaikh argued that the load-shedding which continued for hours on end in Karachi as well as other areas of the province had left Sindh's people miserable.

"All of this is a result of the incompetence of the federal government," he proclaimed. "I have held meetings with K-Electric (KE) [which is the sole electricity provider in the provincial capital], which has accused the federal government of failing to provide furnace oil for power generation," he stated, adding that the Centre, which had a 27 per cent share in KE, was responsible for the prolonged power outages in the metropolis.

"In rural areas of Sindh, there is no electricity in several towns, cities and villages, but the power utility companies continue to send exorbitant bills to the people," he went on to say.

As Shaikh lambasted Ayub and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led federal government, opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi - a member of the PTI - rose to his feet to say something. However, as he did so, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Imdad Pitafi shouted at him to sit down.

The house erupted as lawmakers flung derogatory words at each other and told politicians from other parties to "shut up."

PTI legislators protested at the situation, with MPA Sidra Imran requesting the speaker to ask treasury members to respect the opposition leaders. "Otherwise, members from here [the opposition benches] will also react in the same way."

However, no one paid heed to Durrani's requests to maintain the house's decorum, leaving him with no choice but to adjourn the session until Monday, leaving the agenda unattended.

Even after he left his chair and the session was adjourned, MPAs from both PPP and PTI continued their verbal attacks against each other.

Speaking outside the assembly following the unproductive session, Naqvi held the PPP-led Sindh government responsible for creating the furore in the house, adding that they appeared to be uninterested in running the assembly session.

Faulty CNG kits

Earlier, speaking on the floor, Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Minister Awais Qadir Shah contended that his department could not check faulty CNG kits installed in passenger buses and vans, arguing that this was the domain of the federal government too.

"The cylinder testing authority lies with the federal government. We can only take action against the violation of traffic rules," he maintained, as he fielded lawmakers' queries about the Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Department.

He added that the federal government and its relevant department must issue directives to CNG stations and others to check the quality of the cylinders installed in vehicles with the passage of time.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2020