KARACHI, Nov 14: Finalization of privatization process of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) was welcomed by the small shareholders of the corporation.
The deal was finalized in Islamabad on Monday when the Letter of Acceptance for acquiring 73 per cent shares was given to the Saudi bidder by the Privatization Commission. The next instalment would be paid by them by Nov 29, prior to AGM on the following day. They can take over management anytime next month if they so desired.
The deal was finalized despite a prolonged protest by the KESC employees who had opposed such a move.
Ch. Mazhar Ali, General Secretary KESC shareholders’ association, said the deal would benefit more than 12,000 shareholders which included widows and orphans who initially invested in this company but had not received any profit for the last two decades and their investment had been reduced to one fifth of its original value.
He said that the corporation was currently encountering a monthly loss of more than Rs1 billion mainly due to large-scale theft of electricity. Actual line losses were not more than 20 per cent and if the theft factor was controlled, the KESC could become a profit-making utility organization within few years.
Theft could be reduced if radical changes were made in the working system and in the policies of the corporation, he said.
The system introduced by Shahid Hamid, the slain MD of KESC, had achieved results but his policies were discontinued by the new management after his murder for obvious reasons.
Ch. Mazhar said that the new management had wisely chosen to take the management control in winter season because there were less problems in this period and they would have sufficient time to evaluate the officers and staff of the corporation besides fully understanding the working of the KESC.
He further said that they should not retrench any of the present employees and let them serve till their retirement. Those presently working on contract basis should be made permanent as had been promised by the federal minister for power.
He said that the KESC presently owned more than 360 plots and other properties in Karachi and it was hoped that all these properties would be used for the development work of the corporation.
The government, he said, would be transferring 10 per cent of its own shares to the employees of the corporation and it would be in the interest of the corporation to create a balanced control on the policies adopted by the new management.
