MUZAFFARABAD, June 23: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) electricity department will shortly kick off two projects to provide power supply to the whole of Azad Kashmir and improve the distribution network, an official said on Wednesday.

The department's Secretary Sardar Mohammad Altaf Khan, Chief Engineer Iqbal Mohiuddin and other officials told newsmen that 72 per cent of AJK's area had the facility of electricity supply and the department had prepared schemes to give power supply to the remaining area in three years at a cost of Rs 1.571 billion.

The amount would be made available from AJK's annual development programmes, the secretary said and added that Rs370 million had been earmarked for the project in the next year, out of the department's total allocation of Rs445 million.

He said procurements worth Rs234 million for the schemes had been made in the ongoing year. A separate construction wing had been approved for the project where employment on three-year contract would be provided to about 300 technicians, he said and added that Rs66 million would be spent on salaries and purchase of vehicles and equipment.

He said another project was aimed at improvement, renovation and augmentation of the distribution network. He said the department had hired a consulting firm to conduct the system study for Rs55 million. The study which began in July 2001 would finish in December 2004, he said.

He said the cost of the project was estimated at Rs1.535 billion and the Asian Development Bank had agreed to provide the funds in three years under its Multi-Sector Rehabilitation Programme.

The project envisaged ensuring quality, continuity and stability of power supply, he said. The secretary said the would create 500 jobs on contract basis. He told a questioner that since the department was understaffed, most of the contractual employees would be absorbed on permanent basis after the completion of the projects.

About the ongoing schemes, he said Rs17 million would be spent during the next year to complete the repair of the electricity infrastructure damaged by Indian shelling and heavy snowfall. The cost of the scheme initiated in 2002 was Rs124 million, he said.

He said the department would establish transformer repair workshops in all the district headquarters in two years at a cost of Rs37.1 million. A pilot project for computerization of electricity bills would be launched in Muzaffarabad in the next year at a cost of Rs11.7 million, he said.

In reply to a question, he said AJK's dispute with the Water and Power Development Authority over power tariff had been amicably resolved. Wapda was constructing six new grid stations and upgrading the existing ones to impro-ve power supply in AJK, he said.

He said the private sector had been offered incentives to invest in hydroelectric power generation. The Hydroelectric Board had prepared feasibility studies of 16 sites, having less than 50 megawatt generation capacity, he said and added that the institution was constructing a 4.8MW project in Bitar and expanding the 1.6MW powerhouse in Kathai to double its production.

"We will offer every possible incentive to the private investors, such as metalled roads to the powerhouses, telephone, electricity and an increase in 'concession period[' from 25 to 30 years," he said.