Crackdown on power theft hailed as a success

Minister says ongoing drive would continue in future with expanded scope

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Power and Energy Muhammad Ali on Friday said that the ongoing crackdown against power theft was yielding significant results, announcing that the drive would not be a limited-time effort but rather an ongoing project to expedite and expand its scope in the future.

He was addressing a press conference along with Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi and Caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar.

The interim government took action against electricity theft earlier this month and launched a full-force crackdown across the country. The initiative aims to address the increasing technical and commercial losses faced by power distribution companies.

The minister said, "We are collaborating with all law enforcement agencies on the district level to ensure that the process is carried out swiftly."The minister also underlined that besides curbing theft, the government was focusing on improving the management and governance of electricity distribution companies. He revealed that a comprehensive plan is being developed to change the board of governors of these distribution companies.

He said the CEOs of the DISCOs would also be reshuffled to improve their governance and capacity, adding that the government was also exploring three options to improve the performance of the power distribution companies.

These included working with the World Bank for long-term concessions and privatising the companies, he added. “We are looking at all three options and we will work on the best one."Muhammad Ali said steps were being taken to check electricity theft and pass on the minimum burden of the increased prices of electricity bills to the consumers.

The minister said power sector had a total circular debt of Rs2500 billion while the circular debt of the gas sector was Rs 2900 billion. He said the government was making efforts to manage this huge circular debt.

He said that the government was taking practical steps to ensure availability of gas in the winter season.

The minister said that the government was expediting the efforts for exploration of new oil and gas reserves as no significant attention was paid to this sector during the past ten years. He said the ministry had established a central control room in the Power Division to monitor the ongoing campaign against power theft.

‘Awaiting detailed verdict on NAB amendment'

Meanwhile, the caretaker information minister said the caretaker government was waiting for the Supreme Court to issue a detailed judgment on a case related to the amendments in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws.“Law Ministry and legal experts will review the detailed judgment and future course of action will be announce in the light of their opinion,” the minister said.

To a query, Solangi reiterated the caretaker government’s commitment to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding the general election in the country. “Funds for election were allocated in the federal budget presented by the previous government and at this stage, delimitation process is underway.

However, it is our commitment to fulfil all the requirements of the election commission whether it is related to finance or security, the minister remarked.

(With Input from APP)