Pricey electricity: Silk, marble industrialists to move court against fuel surcharge

Warn against industries’ closure.

SWAT:

Members of silk and marble associations have threatened to go to court against the fuel adjustment surcharge (FAS) and refused to pay electricity bills until it is withdrawn.

“Despite clear-cut directives of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to withdraw fuel adjustment and other surcharges from electricity bills, Wapda is charging consumers FAS which will result in the closure of industries in Swat,” said Sarzamin Khan, president of Swat Silk Owners’ Association.

“With the closure of industrial units, thousands of silk workers would be rendered jobless, compounding problems for residents of Swat.”

Fazal Manan, president of Swat Marble Industry Association also said Wapda would be responsible if industries were to shut down due to excessive electricity charges.

Dr Khalid Mahmood, general secretary of Swat Shaheen Traders Federation stated that the FAS was an injustice and that people could not afford to pay it. “The present government has already increased prices of essential items by 300 per cent.”

After the wave of militancy, Swat was hit by floods. Its already fragile economy is now threatened by extreme power outages and gas load shedding that have paralysed trade and industry.

On December 1, last year, a division bench headed by PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan had asked the National Electricity and Power Regulatory Authority and Wapda to withdraw fuel adjustment surcharge and other surcharges.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2012.