Unpaid power dues: K-P can move SC against federal govt, warns Khattak
Says the provincial govt has Rs57b pending against the centre in terms of net hydel profit
ISLAMABAD:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak on Friday threatened to approach the Supreme Court if the federal government continued to deny the province its due rights and withhold its outstanding funds.
Already the payment delays have undermined the whole process of growth in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to the chief minister.
He pointed out that the federal government had fixed the royalty on electricity at Rs6 billion per annum in 1992 but it is not ready to revise the rate in accordance with the current power tariff, which has increased manifold.
“The province has an outstanding amount of more than Rs57 billion pending against the federal government in terms of net hydel profit,” he said. Khattak explained that “this was only the direct pending amount — the indirect amount is even larger if we add the interest in it”.
Besides, he also alleged the federal government for not allowing the province to use its surplus 100 mmcfd gas for electricity generation, “I think this is a violation of the 18th Amendment under which the provinces are autonomous to use their resources.”
Khattak was in the capital to attend the dialogue on development partnership between the provincial government and its development partners, held under the mutually adopted Strategic Development Partnership Framework.
He also said that the K-P government has asked the election commission to conduct local government polls in the province as the provincial government has finalised all the arrangements in this regard.
“We have again asked the ECP to conduct the LG polls at earliest in the province and there is no truth behind statements that provincial government is not ready to hold elections,” said Khattak.
“We had to approach the ECP again and it has been requested to hold the elections as early as possible’, he maintained. Khattak said that K-P government understands that the local government elections are important to ensure sustainable development and it is the reason that the provincial government has already made legislations in this regard.
Meanwhile, Zafar Ali Shah, K-P secretary planning and development, highlighted the steps taken by the provincial government in the fields of education, health services, economic growth, poverty reduction and governance.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2014.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak on Friday threatened to approach the Supreme Court if the federal government continued to deny the province its due rights and withhold its outstanding funds.
Already the payment delays have undermined the whole process of growth in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to the chief minister.
He pointed out that the federal government had fixed the royalty on electricity at Rs6 billion per annum in 1992 but it is not ready to revise the rate in accordance with the current power tariff, which has increased manifold.
“The province has an outstanding amount of more than Rs57 billion pending against the federal government in terms of net hydel profit,” he said. Khattak explained that “this was only the direct pending amount — the indirect amount is even larger if we add the interest in it”.
Besides, he also alleged the federal government for not allowing the province to use its surplus 100 mmcfd gas for electricity generation, “I think this is a violation of the 18th Amendment under which the provinces are autonomous to use their resources.”
Khattak was in the capital to attend the dialogue on development partnership between the provincial government and its development partners, held under the mutually adopted Strategic Development Partnership Framework.
He also said that the K-P government has asked the election commission to conduct local government polls in the province as the provincial government has finalised all the arrangements in this regard.
“We have again asked the ECP to conduct the LG polls at earliest in the province and there is no truth behind statements that provincial government is not ready to hold elections,” said Khattak.
“We had to approach the ECP again and it has been requested to hold the elections as early as possible’, he maintained. Khattak said that K-P government understands that the local government elections are important to ensure sustainable development and it is the reason that the provincial government has already made legislations in this regard.
Meanwhile, Zafar Ali Shah, K-P secretary planning and development, highlighted the steps taken by the provincial government in the fields of education, health services, economic growth, poverty reduction and governance.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2014.