JI calls for action against KE in citywide protests against power cuts

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter on Monday organised protest demonstrations against prolonged power outages in the city especially during the ongoing heatwave.

The demonstrations were held outside integrated business centres of the K-Electric (KE) and prominent spots of the city. Protesters carried placards and banners inscribed with demands against the power utility.

Earlier on Friday, the JI had said it would hold protests against the KE if the company failed to meet a two-day deadline for curtailing load-shedding. Addressing a protest on Shahrah-e-Quaideen, JI Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that despite all the towering claims by the KE regarding an end to the load-shedding, the city was facing massive announced and unannounced power cuts of 10 to 14 hours.

He remarked that support from political quarters had transformed the private company into a mafia in the city and raised questions over the inability of the ruling regimes when it came to action against the power utility.

He demanded that the government order a forensic audit of the company's accounts and cancel its licence over violations of the agreement under which the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) was privatised.

HE said that then KESC was privatised to bring improvement in the functions of the company but the situation became worst from bad during the past 17 years. Earlier, the KE was supported with a subsidiary of Rs1.5 billion and now the subsidiary amount has increased to Rs95 billion, he claimed.

The JI leader also highlighted the issue of water shortage in the city and demanded that the government ensure implementation on the K-IV project in its original shape. The JI would besiege the head office of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board on May 20 and the Karachi Rights Caravan would be held on May 29, he announced.

The power utility, however, on Sunday said in a press statement that it had taken various measures as part of its efforts to offer maximum convenience to its consumers and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the city.