JI emir demands further reduction in electricity, petrol prices

Terming the reduction of Rs7 per unit in the electricity rate a good omen, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has demanded that the government further reduce the electricity and petrol prices.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi JI headquarter, Idara Noor-e-Haq, on Friday, he said that earlier, the same ruling regime used to say that the accords with the independent power producers (IPPs) were not re-negotiable.

He said that after the JI’s movement, which included sit-ins and a countrywide strike, the government had to accept the party’s demands and started negotiations with the IPPs over capacity charges that were paid in US dollars.

Rehman said that initially, the government was reluctant to pass on the impact of revised agreements with IPPs to the masses but finally the public struggle bore fruits and the government had started reducing the tariff.

Talking about the power generation capacity of the country, he said that the capacity clocked in at 45,000 megawatts (MW), whereas our requirement stood at 26,000MW. He added that on the one hand, the nation paid for the additional capacity of electricity generation and on the other hand, load-shedding was a matter of routine.

He said Pakistan did not need expensive electricity with the help of petroleum or imported coal, instead hydel, solar, wind, nuclear other alternative sources of power production should be utilised.

The JI emir also demanded that the prime minister order a forensic audit of the IPPs. He said the IPPs had enjoyed Rs1,700 billion tax exemption during the past few years. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) was also hands in gloves with the beneficiaries of illegal and unconstitutional practices, he alleged.

Rehman announced that he would unveil details of a new phase of the rights movement on April 7 in Lahore. Talking about other issues of the country, he said the petrol price should also be reduced in the country in accordance with the international price.

He said the rulers portrayed the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) as proof for economic stability just to mislead the masses. He maintained that the PSE index did not reflect the economy of the country.

He also lambasted the Federal Board of Revenue, saying that the institution had almost 26,000 employees, yet they could not check Rs1,300 billion that fell prey to corruption each year.

The JI chief lamented that when it came to taxation, the salaried class was expected to submit Rs500 billion this year compared to Rs5 billion expected from the feudal lords.

About the education sector, he said that some 30 million children were out of schools and the situation merited a war-footing response, but unfortunately education was not on the agenda of the ruling regime.

He said the sugar mafia enjoyed as farmers suffered in the country. He added that the government should address all the sensitive issues, including the unrest in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.