ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Thursday expressed serious concern over the Power Division's delay in implementing its crucial recommendations for the 765kV double-circuit transmission line from Dasu Hydropower Station to Islamabad.
The committee also expressed annoyance over the absence of secretary Power Division.
It asked who was responsible for this disaster in the power sector, which resulted in high power bills and pilferages, and why the ministry was asleep earlier. «The secretary of Power Division should be changed because he did not stop the deterioration in power sector over a long time, Abro said. The committee had called for a comprehensive investigation into reported irregularities within its bidding process.
The Senate’s Standing Committee on Power met here with Senator Saifullah Abro in the chair to address these pressing issues and expressed discontent over the delays in executing vital aspects of this infrastructure project.
Irregularities within the bidding process dominated the discussion during the committee meetings. In response, the committee has resolved to initiate a comprehensive investigation into these reported irregularities.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of chairman and members of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) from the meeting and decided to issue summons for them to attend the next meeting.
«The Nepra chairman and members should be asked to come to the meeting immediately,» Senator Saifullah Abro said. In response, Nepra officials informed that he was busy in an important meeting.
The committee had invited the secretary Power Division and Nepra chairman along with the provincial members of the authority to take a briefing on the recent highly-inflated power rates/bills and their solution, recoveries of Discos, circular debt and various other issues of the sector.
During the committee meeting, Additional Secretary of the Power Division, Arshad Majid, informed the panel that on September 7, the country-wide crackdown on power theft was launched and Discos were asked to take strict measures to recover hundreds of billions of rupees.
In the initial four days, the performance of Discos was disappointing, however, strict action was taken against the Discos and recovery increased. As of today, they had recovered approximately Rs1 billion.
The CEO of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) was removed on Wednesday as he failed to increase the recovery. So far, eight officers of Iesco have been suspended while an officer of Sepco has been handed over to FIA on allegations of corruption.
Additional Secretary of Power Division Arshad Majid said that to bring more efficiency, the division has implemented reshuffling of officers within different Discos.
Senator Saifullah Abro suggested the Power Division to take additional measures and urged it to extend its reshuffling efforts to include the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Discos and Boards of Directors (BoDs) of relevant authorities. Senator Abro cited alleged malfeasance and a detrimental impact on the power sector›s capacity as reasons for these suggested changes.
The additional secretary said the ministry had established a committee to investigate the matter and will submit a report once it is completed.
Abro said the committee has explicitly identified irregularities in the bidding process for the project, but the irony is despite making recommendations several times to act against the involved officials, the Power Division has not taken any action. Abro further said the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has the authority to form the committee.
During a discussion on the CPEC power plants, the Power Division informed that sixteen power plants are integral to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with majority of them being wind and solar-based projects.
The committee also inquired about the status of Kapco Power plant and asked the Power Division where the government stands on its contract that lapsed in June 2021. The Power Division was also asked regarding how long gas and RFO were provided to the plant. Unfortunately, the Power Division failed to respond. Amidst this context, Senator Abro advised the Power Division to launch an inquiry on claims of illegal contract extension for the Kapco Power Plant.
Furthermore, Abro slammed the Power Division for the shutdown of Muzaffargarh and Jamshoro power plants and for not supplying them with sufficient gas. He remarked that one could not apprehend how the Power Division plans to strive by shutting down public power plants.
Meanwhile, Power Division Secretary Rashid Mahmood Langrial through his X account said, “PM›s campaign against power theft will cross first billion recovery mark today, although all nuts and bolts of anti-theft campaign are still not fully in place. An iterative process: learning by doing in place. Fully-evolved model by end of the month InshaAllah.”
According to him, the total recovery was Rs951 million, while 454 persons were arrested and 4,241 FIRs had been registered against power thieves so far.
