December 17, 2001	Monday	Shawwal 1, 1422

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PESHAWAR, Dec 16: Despite the fact that Rs5 billion electricity dues payable by the tribal areas’ consumers were recently written off, the Water and Power Development Authority’s total recoverable amount from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas has accumulated to well over Rs7bn, according to official sources.

“The Fata dues remain to be a problem as Wapda’s Fata arrears have soar as much as Rs7.5 bn,” said the official sources.

Islamabad’s move of paying Rs5bn to Wapda during the last financial year in place of the defaulting electricity consumers from the tribal areas did not help to redress the problem as, said the sources, outstanding amount payable by Fata’s Wapda consumers had once again jumped up to well over Rs7.5 bn — accrued from Jan 1, 2000 onward.

Though the federal government made payment to Wapda in place of Fata consumers, tribesmen remained adamant to bear the cost of electricity they use and in this respect thwarted Wapda and NWFP government’s joint moves of installing electricity, in tribal areas.

In line with an understanding reached between the federal and provincial governments and Wapda chairman some 10,187 electricity meters [bulk supply meters] were to be installed in the eight administrative units of Fata, including seven tribal agencies and Frontier regions of Peshawar, D.I.Khan, Bannu and Kohat.

However, during the last one and a half years the political administrations of the Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Orakzai, and Kurram agencies only 279 bulk supply meters could have been installed of which, too, 43 meters were either removed or intentionally damaged by the tribesmen rendering the government’s move a farce.

In the recently held meeting presided over by the President Pervez Musharraf, said the sources, Wapda chairman Lt Gen Zulfiqar made a comprehensive presentation on his organization’s affairs and special focus was made on the Fata arrears.

In the light of the presentation, the President had issued instructions to the NWFP government thereby collection of electricity tariff would be the responsibility of the political agents of all the seven tribal agencies forming the Fata.

“The recovery system has been streamlined and the provincial government is presently evolving a mechanism to ensure recovery of Wapda dues from Fata through political agents,” said the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company’s chief executive Brig Khalid Khan when contacted to know about his organization stand on the Wapda’s Fata arrears.

According to him, in line with the President Musharraf’s directives, political agents of all the seven agencies have been issued instructions to ensure timely recovery of electricity tariff.

Against over 215 million units supplied to Fata every month, Wapda, on the average, recovers Rs16.7m making just 3.1 per cent of the total cost of the electricity consumed by tribesman.

In comparison with a total 171,000 domestic and commercial electricity consumers of Fata registered with Wapda, the tribal belt has over 85,000 non-registered consumers who have obtained electricity connections illegally directly from the transformers and electricity distribution wires.

Similarly, according to sources, in comparison with the 8,012 transformers installed by Wapda in Fata, there are some 3,241 illegally installed transformers in the tribal belt.

“These transformers have been installed by the tribesmen without any permission from the authorities concerned,” said Brig Khalid. Majority of the illegally installed transformers, said the Pesco chief, had been obtained from the open market which received the same through auctions by Wapda. Besides, some of the installed meters are apparently stolen ones and those obtained by the elected representatives of the Fata.