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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Murad tells KE to spare citizens from outages

By our correspondents
May 24, 2017

Sindh’s chief minister has urged Karachi’s electric company to improve its power distribution system in view of the hot weather as well as spare the citizens from prolonged outages.

“During prolonged outages the people of the city face serious problems, particularly those who live in flats and small houses,” CM Syed Murad Ali Shah said during a meeting with the K-Electric’s management on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by KE Chairman Waqar Siddique, CEO Tayyab Tareen, External Director Asmar Naeem and Chief Marketing & Communication Officer Fakhar Ahmed, as well as CM’s Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput, Energy Secretary Agha Wasif and Local Government Secretary Ramzan Awan.

CM Shah said the KE should have improved its power distribution system before the weather turned hot. On this KE chairman Siddique said the system had been improved by laying new cables and replacing the old ones.

“The recent major power breakdown was the result of a storm in the rural parts of the province, because of which the [supply] towers had collapsed.”

Shah said that besides the breakdown, there were complaints about outages. “They must be reduced to minimum level. The issue of overbilling, against which political parties have raised a hue and cry, should also be addressed.”

He said industrialists had also been complaining about outages. “I suggest that the KE rationalise power cuts in industrial and residential areas,” he added, and urged the electric firm to take special measures to reduce outages to negligible level during Ramazan.

He also urged the KE to end power cuts at the pumping stations of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board. “During outages the people are not only deprived of electricity but water as well.”

On this KE CEO Tareen said the pumping stations were being supplied electricity from feeders that were free from load-shedding.

CM Shah also asked the power company to expedite electrification in the rural parts of the city. “I want to electrify all our villages located on the outskirts of the city.”

He said: “We’re providing [the KE] 100MW from our maiden Nooriabad Power Plant with the hope that the city and its adjoining areas would be exempted from load-shedding.”

The KE administration assured the chief executive that they would look after the city in terms of power cuts during Ramazan as well as after the holy month.

 

‘Year of development‘

“Hundreds of big and small projects are going to be completed during the next financial year. Therefore, I term the next fiscal year ‘the year of development’,” Shah told another meeting at the CM House.

He said the provincial budget for the next fiscal year would be drafted according to the expectations of the people, adding that the government would consolidate the energy and social sectors as well as development schemes of the past four years with the aim to complete all the schemes.

The meeting in which a guideline was chalked out for the budget was attended by Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Planning & Development (P&D) Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary Rajput, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi and others.

The chief executive told his P&D and finance teams that the next budget would be welfare-oriented and for poverty alleviation with special focus on improving the education system and the health services.

He said the energy crisis had adversely affected the country’s industrial growth. “I believe the solution of our energy crisis lies in Thar coal.”

He added that special attention would be given to the development of coal blocks and the infrastructure of Thar.

CM Shah said investment opportunities for renewable energy were ample. “Therefore, special focus would be given to the development of infrastructure for wind and solar power plants to attract investment.”

Providing guidelines for completing development schemes, he said the provincial government had launched many uplift works during its current tenure. Therefore, he added, special focus would be given to consolidate them in terms of their importance so they could be completed.

The CM said the education and health sectors needed overhauling and extensive reforms. “I have a dream to establish a state-of-the-art teachers training academy with a good faculty for the instructors’ capacity building.”

He said: “We’re strengthening our health services by involving private partners, and this process would be continued to provide services in every nook and corner of the province.”

Shah said he also planned to strengthen the local bodies. “I recently held a provincial finance commission meeting through which the local bodies would be strengthened with ample funds.”

He told the P&D and finance departments to finalise the Karachi package for the next financial year. “Karachi is one of the best cities of the world, and I would make it worth visiting.”

He said he had a plan to improve the tourism sector, particularly the city’s seaside. “The lakes around it and the development of the Kirthar National Park would attract tourists.”