October 31, 2002	Thursday	Sha’aban 24,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) on Wednesday told the Capital Development Authority (CDA) that it would not supply power to the newly-constructed blocks of the Parliament Lodges till the authority cleared all outstanding dues, the officials from both Iesco and the CDA disclosed.

The officials said Iesco had installed power meters at over 100 suites of the newly-constructed H and J blocks. But, the company refused to supply power to the rooms till the CDA paid its arrears, they added.

A CDA official said the authority owed Rs19 million to Iesco which the former parliamentarians did not pay in utility bills during their stay at the lodges for over two years. He said many ex-MNAs had not paid utility dues to the CDA before leaving the lodges.

However, before the general elections, some of them cleared an amount of Rs0.3 million in power dues and Rs55,000 in gas bills.

The official said as many as 100 lodges had recently been constructed for the newly-elected parliamentarians, increasing the total number to 330.

He said the CDA had to hand over the lodges to the newly- elected parliamentarians by November 1.

“If Iesco does not supply power, the authority will not be able to hand over the lodges to the parliamentarians on the scheduled time,” he added.

A high ranking Iesco official confirmed that the authority had to pay Rs19 million to the company.

When the CDA pays these dues to Iesco, power will be supplied to all the newly-constructed lodges, the official said.

He said the CDA also had to pay Rs100 million to Iesco for installation of transformers and power-lines in F-11 sector.

Responding to a question, he said: “We have told the CDA officials that if they do not pay the amount, Iesco will install an overhead network of power wires instead of an underground system.”

The underground network of power system is quite expensive compared to the outdated overhead system, he added.