KARACHI, Aug 21: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation managing director and the Karachi Nazim crossed swords with each other over the arrest of defaulters, at a public hearing organized by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority on Wednesday.
Karachi Nazim Naimatullah Khan criticized the KESC for operating “like a state within state”. He said: “Karachi contributes 65 per cent of the revenue to the federal kitty and 75 per cent of the country’s industries are based in this city. Even so, the KESC is arresting the Karachiites without taking into account the fact that their electricity bills have wrongly been billed.”
He said the KESC was an autonomous body in which the city government had no say. “The KESC cannot improve its working without inputs from the city government.”
Mr Khan added that there was no justification for a rise in tariff by the KESC. “The KESC should also put an end to loadshedding and voltage fluctuations which caused the electronic appliances of people to break down.”
He wondered why there was a difference between the tariff of KESC and tariff of Wapda. “Why is it that there is lower power tariff in other parts of the country and higher power tariff in Karachi?”
KESC managing director Brig Tariq Saddozai argued that the power utility could make the defaulters pay up by arresting them. “The KESC has also arrested people for pilfering electricity which is a punishable offence under the law.”
He said: “Only the KESC has offered various relief packages over the years which were never offered by Wapda.”
Addressing the members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry at Federation House earlier, he said that these bodies were not spending even a single penny on improvement of infrastructure but availing all the facilities developed by the city government, add agencies.
He observed that there was no reason behind the arrest of industrialists and traders and if they are charged with power theft, they must be fined but the attitude adopted by the KESC officials was not adequate.
“There stand urgent exigency that under new grass-root mode of governance, the working of the KESC be placed under control of the city government as this was the only viable solution to long-standing problems faced by the people of the metropolis.
He dispelled the impression that law and order situation was not suitable for investment in Karachi, saying western media was portraying the city’s case with exaggeration. Recently more than 600 foreigners attended a moot in Karachi but nothing untoward happened to them, he added.
The Nazim said for the first time in the history of the city, Rs20 billion had been allocated in the current budget of which 31 per cent for education and 19 per cent for health. “My priority is to promote education and health facilities in city”.
He said for the smooth flow of traffic, the city government had designed four flyovers at Sharea Faisal, Sharea Quaideen, FTC (Gora Qabristan) and Gurumandar. The last one would be built with steel for which Pakistan Steel had agreed to donate steel, he added.
He said a Swiss company would invest US$1.2 billion in the field of transport while another Qatar-based company would invest US$250 million for uplift of sewerage system of city.
“Recently I signed an MoU with the World Bank for undertaking study of sold waste management and the whole expenses would be borne by it,” Naimatullah said.
Replying to the question raised by traders that activists of political parties have once again started rounds of offices of industrialists for extortion of money (Bhatha) and were being threatened, he asked them to report such incidents to the city government so that stern action could be initiated against such persons.
The city government would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese company that was manufacturing Karakorum Express train to run mono-train in the city, he also said.
