The Jamaat-e-Islami ended its protest sit-in against the K-Electric on Tuesday after Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair offered his good offices for the amicable settlement of public complaints about electricity outages and overbilling in the metropolis.
Talking to a delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), led by its Karachi chief, Hafiz Naim ur Rehman, he said that under democratic norms, dialogue was the only tool to get problems resolved.
”Public interest is supreme and the government in this regard is committed to getting settled problems faced by citizens at any level,” he said.
Zubair assured the JI delegation, invited by him to the Governor House to discuss matters related to the K-Electric, that all possible support would be extended for getting their reservations over the power utility addressed.
In this context, he also offered to facilitate talks between the JI and the K-Electric, reaffirming his commitment to ensure that genuine grievances of citizens are resolved on a priority basis.
“Governor House from now on will also monitor complaints registered by citizens and measures adopted for their redressal,” he said.
The governor and the JI delegation, which included Muhammad Shahid, Raja Arif Sultan, Ishaq Khan and Chaudhry Mazhar, agreed to hold another meeting in a fortnight so as to assess progress made in the resolution of public complaints against the K-Electric. — APP
Geo News adds: JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said the decision had been made in light of the assurance from the governor to resolve the grievances within 15 days.
The sit-in against the power utility continued for four consecutive days.
Hafiz Rehman demanded from the power utility to stop “overbilling” and charging in the name of fuel adjustments and the meter rent and return about Rs200 billion to the people of Karachi.
Earlier, JI chief Sirajul Haq addressed the protesters near the Governor House.
The party had organised a “K-Electric Murdabad cricket match” on Monday night. The party’s women wing had also participated in the sit-in on Monday when female protesters reached the gate of the Governor House but were stopped by police officers from entering the premises.
“We want the authorities to make up for the losses borne by [the people of] Karachi,” the JI Karachi chief had said while speaking to Geo News on Sunday. “Loadshedding can end as the plant capacity is sufficient enough.”
He had reiterated that the party wanted the K-Electric to put an end to overbilling. “The money that they have looted from people should be returned.” However, the spokesperson for the K-Electric refuted the overbilling allegations.