Passing the buck: PTI to protest along with public over power outages

Farman says distribution companies are to blame .

PESHAWAR:

In a bid to counter the impending public uproar over load-shedding in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the provincial government plans to launch protests against the federal government which it blames for excessive power outages.

“Summer is fast approaching and if power outages increase in K-P we are going stage demonstrations across the country,” said Minister for Information Shah Farman during a news briefing at Officers Mess on Sunday.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader said the government will not wait for people to come out on the streets against power outages and would rather start the protests themselves.

Farman said, “We have formed a committee to ponder over the handing over of Pesco to K-P but the federal government is not showing any interest in the subject and has not even formed a committee to start negotiations on the matter.”

The minister also demanded the centre to improve the infrastructure of power supply in the province so the system can receive its due share of 16% of power, which it is currently deprived of.

Regarding the recent announcement by State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali over the closure of 11 power feeders in K-P on account of line losses, Farman said, “We will investigate whether any feeder has actually been shut down.”

“Unlike Ali’s hollow accusations regarding power theft, we will talk only on facts and figures,” he said, adding the K-P government has provided three police stations and magistrates to help Pesco in curbing power theft but it is still blamed for stealing electricity.

Furnishing figures of drives against power theft in the country, Farman said 87,183 cases have been registered in Punjab against power consumers of which only 387 have been brought to book.

Regarding K-P, he said 2,069 power theft cases have been registered of which 1,099 arrests have been made.

He said the state minister does not talk about the net hydel profit that is owed to K-P.

The minister asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to read a recent Nepra report which has termed power distribution companies responsible for over-billing, secret power connections, self-made load-shedding and furnishing wrong facts and figures. “Is it (load-shedding) our fault or the power companies’ including Pesco,” Farman said, adding even the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, from the hometown of Abid Sher Ali, is involved in power theft and other irregularities according to the Nepra report but the firebrand minister only targets K-P.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2014.