Govt mulling Rangers option for recovering power bills, catching corrupt Sepco officials

Minister of State for Water and Power accuses Sukkur politicians, 'big fish' for power theft, bill defaults

ISLAMABAD: With the security operation by Rangers in Karachi deemed to be largely successful, the federal government is considering deploying the paramilitary force to help deal with power theft and bring powerful defaulters, corrupt officials to book who are eating up Rs13.8 billion per year in Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco).

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali told the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water and Power accused politicians and Sukkur influential for power theft and misuse which was resulting in 90 per cent line losses at 85 feeders leading to a loss of Rs1.15 billion to the national exchequer.

Ali further said that hotels and private hospitals were pilfering power through “kundas”.

“I am keeping the list (of defaulters) secret.  If I unveil the list of electricity thieves and defaulters of Sukkur, and Hesco there will raise hue and cry,” he added.

Previously, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been tasked to deal with the culprits involved in defaulting on power bills and electricity theft in all power distribution companies. However, it had failed to deliver expected results.

Should the government go through with the plan, Sepco could become the first power firm for which help was sought from Rangers. If the experiment proves to be successful, the model may be expanded to other loss-making power companies.

The NA panel, which met under its chair Arshad Khan Leghari, said it was “stunned” by the state minister’s revelations.

“The committee was stunned to learn about the actual position of Sepco with big fish involved in electricity theft,” said an official statement.  Nawab Yousaf Talpur acknowledged that there was massive power theft in Sepco, but added sarcastically that no one dares mention the names of these ‘big fish’.

He acknowledged that discos employees were also involved in wrongdoings and action was needed against them.

Recently, Secretary Water and Power had terminated several officers for malpractice with their cases dispatched to NAB for prosecution.

Ali requested members of Standing Committee hailing from Sindh to help Sepco officials curb power theft and recover dues. He further suggested that a sub- committee should be constituted to reresolve issues of Hesco and Sepco.

Sepco chief Muzaffar Abbasi, who was present in the meeting, confirmed that ‘kundas’ plagued the company’s distribution network.

The meeting decided that a sub-committee, headed by Ghazi Ghulab Jamal, would sort out issues of Pesco and Tesco.

Additional Secretary Water and Power Omar Rasool informed the committee that 30 million compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) were procured for distribution to consumers of all Discos. So far 27.8 million lamps had already been distributed with 2.2 million more yet to be distributed. Rasool highlighted that the condition for consumers to return two healthy bulbs in exchange for one energy saver was proving to be a problem.

Replying to a question on how much money was spent on improving the transmission system, Ali said that different projects were underway to improve the existing system including installation of new power lines.

“Pakistan’s transmission system will be able to transmit up to 21,000 MW of electricity by the end of 2016,” he claimed.

The committee expressed annoyance on the absence of K-Electric CEO Tayyab Tareen. Talpur threatened to move a privilege motion against the CEO if he did not appear in the next meeting.

K-Electric, however, was represented at the meeting through its CFO who briefed the panel on the power utility and presented himself for questions. The committee, however, deferred the briefing till MQM members return to Parliament.