Lights out: PTI accused of connivance in week-long power outage

PESCO accused of deliberately not resolving power issues for an entire week.

PESHAWAR:

While the organisation denies foul play, Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) is being accused by Kakshal residents for deliberately not resolving their power issues for an entire week due to the alleged political affiliation of some of its officials.

One of the area’s power transformers was taken away by Pesco for repair seven days ago and in its absence, making hundreds of families suffer without electricity and shortage of water, said Ishtiaq Khan, a resident of Kohat Road in Kakshal.

The electricity supplier’s Kohat Road office is a stone’s throw from the transformer’s location.

Khan along with other members of the affected neighborhood told The Express Tribune that their area was being targeted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Javed Nasim, because members of PTI’s rival political party, Awami National Party (ANP), also reside there.

They claimed Nasim was using his connections with a senior Pesco official to target ANP, disregarding the suffering of all the others who were not affiliated with his rivals.

Residents recently staged a brief protest and blocked main Kohat road. They dispersed peacefully after Bhanamari Station House Officer (SHO) Ghafar Khan called Pesco Superintendent Shahid Khan, who assured the officer that the transformer would be re-installed in the next 12 hours.



“These 12 hours have now turned into three more days,” said Yasir Ihsan, another resident of the area.

Pesco spokesperson, Shaukat Afzal, told The Express Tribune that repairs were carried out in a speedy manner – sometimes within hours. When confronted with allegations of deliberate foul play on their part, Afzal denied such accusations.

“The issue will be solved at the earliest and our officials are not supposed to be politically involved, rather, should perform their duties professionally.”

PTI worker Muhammad Kashif, whose residence has also been without power for a week, denounced his party’s alleged actions.

“This issue has revealed the sincerity of the MPA (Nasim), for whom we voted in the general elections,” said Kashif, adding that Pesco’s superintendent and PTI MPA were both from Badhaber.

Imdadullah, PTI office bearer and Kakshal resident, also accused his party of ignoring their problems and announced his plans to join ANP-Wali along with his other colleagues.

According to the estranged PTI officer, his MPA told him to take the issue up with the federal government when he, along with others, visited Nasim seeking his help to ask Pesco officials to repair the transformer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2014.