Baloch slams government’s power tariff raise plans

LAHORE: JI secretary-general Liaquat Baloch has said the government should control power theft and line losses and punish the defaulters.

Addressing a meeting of different delegations at Mansoorah here on Wednesday, Baloch demanded the government see reason and instead of increasing electricity tariff, control power theft and line losses and punish the defaulters. He said a fresh raise of about Rs 4 per unit would be nothing short of a drone attack on the poor. He said development work in almost all sectors had come to a halt due to wrong policies of the government.

He said retrieving plundered wealth from the corrupt would be a major step that could help the government overcome economic crisis and this would also help the rulers do away with the IMF help.

He expressed concerns over NAB’s ‘silence’ over the trial of 436 other persons named in Panama Leaks which, he said, was creating doubts about its impartiality. He said on November 17 last year, JI had filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking action against the remaining 436 persons besides former PM Nawaz Sharif, and the court had sought report from the federal government and the NAB.

He said the nation wanted across the board accountability of the corrupt and the plunderers. He said about 150 cases of mega corruption were already pending with the NAB but no action was being taken on these. He said the NAB had a complete record of the people involved in corruption.