KP govt, opposition join hands against power outages

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and opposition have decided to raise the issue of power outages and other electricity-related problems at political level and stage a sit-in outside the Peshawar Electric Supply Company offices.
The consensus was evolved at a high-level meeting of the KP government and parliamentary leaders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak chaired the meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Wednesday, said a handout.
Provincial Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, Member National Assembly Sahibzada Tariqullah, parliamentary leaders of various political parties in the assembly, provincial ministers and MPAs, the chief secretary, the Pesco chief and other relevant officers attended the meeting.
The participants resolved to give a mass protest call to press for the provincial government’s demand for providing full share of 13.5 percent in the total power production.
They said that the Pesco should formulate such schedule of loadshedding, which could ensure full utilisation of the provincial share and reduce the power outages accordingly.
Accepting Pesco proposal, the chief minister formed a technical committee of the provincial Energy Department and Pesco for ascertaining technical and other causes of the loadshedding to suggest a schedule for the power breaks that could consume full share electricity for the province.
Expressing dissatisfaction and disappointment at Pesco’s poor response to the issued raised by the provincial government about the power loadshedding, low voltage, delay in completion of MPAs-funded electrification schemes and repair of transformers, the chief minister said the government and opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have now been forced by Pesco to raise their voice on streets to secure the constitutional right of the province.
The chief minister said the federal government would be formally intimated that the province was being denied its right which was a sheer violation of the Constitution.
He recalled that the federal power minister had authorised him to prepare the loadshedding schedule but the Pesco was consistently refusing to cooperate in this connection.
The chief minister said that loadshedding on the feeders that bear heavy line losses due to power thefts should not be the discretion of Pesco. He argued that the power theft was being made in connivance with the Pesco officials.
Reiterating the provincial government’s resolve for extending full cooperation to check the power thefts and recover the outstanding dues of 1.5 billion rupees, he said the Pesco should not show reservations in providing the KP its rightful share.
Discussing the issues of electrification schemes and repair of transformers, the chief minister offered funding to the Wapda from the provincial resources to purchase 1000 wheel carts to facilitate standby arrangements for replacing defected transformers and establishing transformers’ repair workshop in every district of the province.