The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday announced staging symbolic sit-ins against the “atrocities of the K-Electric,” besides moving the apex court against the power utility.
Addressing a press conference outside the KE’s head office on Sunday, a group of PTI lawmakers said they would strongly protest against “the cruel monopoly of the KE over the power sector of the megacity of Karachi”.
Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi, PTI’s central joint secretary MNA Aftab Siddiqui, MNAs Aslam Khan, Faheem Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Saima Siddiqui, Nusrat Wahid, Ghazala Saifi, MPAs Saeed Afridi, Jamal Siddiqui, Raja Azhar, Bilal Ghaffar, Shahnawaz Jadoon, Adeeba Hassan, Rabistan Khan, Umar Amari, Kareem Bux Gabol, Ali Aziz GG, Dr Sanji Gangwani and others were present on the occasion.
Naqvi said Karachi had been facing with a power crisis for long. “Instead of resolving these issues, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) was privatised earlier (which now the KE).”
He said this privatisation contract was later extended to 2023. He said the owners of the privatised KESC changed but the problems of the electricity consumers continued. “Karachiites are against costly electricity. They want cheap electricity and electricity rates in the entire country should be the same,” said Naqvi. “If Karachi gets cheap electricity, the whole country would get benefits”.
He said that in every summer “the KE rubs salt into the wounds of Karachiites”. He added that so far, the KE had failed to resolve the issue of load-shedding issue. The PTI leader said the KE in a meeting with the government presented “a lame excuse” that they had no furnace oil.
“The federal government arranged furnace oil for the KE. But again, the KE presented another lame excuse that they have no gas and then they were provided with LNG”. He said the KE promised at the Governor House to end load-shedding in 48 hours but it the power utility did not keep its promise.
Naqvi said Karachiites were fed up with the persisting load-shedding and excessive billing. “I demand of the federal government to issue tenders before 2023 for inviting other companies to take part in bidding for the private electricity sector in Karachi.”
He said the KE should be split into three companies and that finding an urgent alternative to the KE was a must. MNA Siddiqui said the party leaders had had several meetings in which they were assured that the load-shedding in the megacity would end by June 28. He said the KE was not serious to resolve the load shedding issue. “Every facility, including the provision of gas, is being given to the KE, but it is not ready to end the exploitation of Karachi’s power consumers.”
He said #Karachiites were being subject to overbilling, besides facing the menace of load-shedding. “The PTI would go to the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the KE this week.” He said that from Monday (today), the PTI leaders would stage a symbolic sit-in daily in their protest camp opposite the head office of the KE.