MPAs decry prolonged power outages
As per TESCO official, major parts of the grid have been repaired and power supply will be resumed after technical testing. PHOTO: fb.com/Mohmand-Press-Club
The elected representatives of merged tribal areas have criticised the prolonged power cuts in areas under Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (Tesco).
They called for handing over administrative matters of the company to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government.
Adviser to K-P chief minister on Energy and Power Himayat Ullah Khan chaired a meeting to review the progress of ongoing development projects related to power generation in tribal areas on Monday.
During the meeting, Tesco Chief Akram Mirza and Secretary Energy Muhammad Zubair Khan apprised the participants regarding the progress of various projects of Tesco under the Department of Energy for improvement of the power supply system and rehabilitation of infrastructure in the merged tribal areas.
However, the elected representatives were displeased on being neglected in consultation for the projects as well as on its slow progress.
They said that load-shedding up to 15 hours on daily basis has become a routine despite the injection of billions of rupees for the project.
The tribal lawmakers pointed out Tesco ignored their demands for the replacement of overloading transformers and power supply lines.
They demanded the government to overtake the company due to poor performance.
The energy secretary assured that the provincial government had allocated funds for the improvement of the power supply system in tribal areas under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2020-21.
The advisor said that the government was overseeing all ongoing projects under Tesco and assured that the recommendations of the lawmakers from merged districts would be given preference.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2020.