Broad claims: PTI MPA leads anti-PESCO protest

Fazl-i-Elahi claims PESCO has been overcharging customers.

PESHAWAR:

Villagers living around the suburbs of Peshawar on Thursday protested against the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) for overbilling and excessive power outages.

The demonstrators asked the government to probe the alleged corruption of Pesco and SNGPL employees instead of harassing poor people on the behest of corrupt officials.

Protesters hailing from Bahadar Kallay, Hazarkhwani, Garhi Qamar Din, Garhi Ata Muhammad, Landi Arbab and Achr among other areas that come under PK-4 and PK-6 constituencies took to the streets. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA from PK-6, Fazl-i-Elahi, along with other party leaders and local elders gathered at Saddar Road, outside the Peshawar Press Club. They held placards and banners and chanted slogans against the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) SNGPL, and Pesco for overcharging.

They also chanted slogans against the federal government. The infuriated protesters blocked Sher Shah Suri Road for about an hour, disrupting traffic and troubling commuters.

Addressing the protesters, Elahi accused the federal government of employing mean tactics to blackmail and give an impression that the PTI-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had failed. He claimed they will never succeed at this. He further accused the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) of harassing poor people instead of exposing and punishing corrupt officials of Wapda and SNGPL.

Elahi claimed Pesco and SNGPL were adding extra units to monthly utility bills to cover up the corruption of their own employees. “It is quite unjust and inhumane that despite long hours of power and gas load-shedding, huge utility bills are sent to poor families,” he said.

The MPA also threatened to no longer remain peaceful. “Sending a Rs13,000 utility bill to a rickshaw driver or a daily wager is unjust. And when people are not able to pay, the FIA and police raid their houses.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2013.