‘Power’ tussle: Centre accuses K-P MPAs of ‘stealing’ electricity

State minister Abid Sher Ali names and shames PTI leaders for non-payment of dues in their constituencies.

PESHAWAR:

Lashing out at the provincial government over line losses and pending electricity bills, Federal Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali on Wednesday said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) ministers were backing power thieves.

During a news briefing at Wapda House, the minister named and shamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders for aiding the province’s power woes. “Around 90% of consumers in the constituencies of MPAs Fazal Elahi, Shah Farman and Arif Ahmad Zai, among others, are defaulters and their elected representatives have failed to ensure that their constituencies pay their dues.”

Regarding the proposed provincial takeover of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), Ali informed the federal government has sought recommendations from the Ministry of Water and Power over the issue.



Alluding to the alleged power theft cases, Ali said: “It is because of this that a loss of Rs13 billion was incurred by Pesco during the last six months. It is easy to stage sit-ins and difficult to actually improve performance on the ground.”

Elaborating his claims against the PTI leaders, Ali said Rs1.35 billion worth of recoveries were pending in Information Minister Farman’s constituency, and Rs519 million and Rs0.41 million from Elahi and Zai’s constituencies, respectively. He alleged Pesco officials were “tortured” by the power thieves when they visited the areas for recoveries. “We will cut off the hands of anyone who manhandles our staff again,” the minister warned.

Ali asked the party’s provincial and central leadership to help recover the pending dues from across the province and eliminate no-go areas which remain out of reach for Pesco’s teams.

“This pilferage and non-payment of dues cannot go on anymore,” he said, adding areas with high losses would now face 18-20 hours of power cuts and those with relatively less losses six to eight hours.



Specifically focusing on Bannu, the minister said Pesco faces 95% losses in the district. He said if electricity dues from the area don’t start coming in a week, the supply of electricity to the district will be completely halted. He informed that a new law will be introduced soon, under which imprisonment of two years will be accorded to those found tampering with electricity meters.

Regarding the improvement of the transmission system, Ali said the government had allocated Rs17 billion to improve power transmission lines and the distribution system.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2014.