August 25, 2006	Friday	Rajab 29, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi on Thursday told National Assembly that 12,764 villages/abadis had been provided electricity costing Rs9.2 billion during 2005-06.

In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Shabir Ahmed Khan, the minister said 8484 villages/abadis had got electricity in Punjab at a cost of Rs5.9 billion, followed by 1,082 in Sindh at a cost of Rs757.4 million, 2,430 in NWFP at a cost of Rs1.9 billion and 768 in Balochistan at a cost of Rs614.4 million.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Nafisa Munawar Raja, federal minister for water and power said 140,142 earthquake victims were exempted from payment of electricity bills for the month of November-December 2005 to January 2006.

He said Wapda had given these exemption to 12,713 earthquake victims of Abbottabad district, 107,889 in Mansehra district, 13,701 in Battagram district, 5,604 in Shangla district, and 235 in Rawalpindi district.

Replying a question raised by MNA Mohammad Safdar Shakir the minister said distribution boxes had not been installed by Wapda in street No 17 sector G/6-2.

He said renovation work of the street along with installation of distribution boxes was in progress and likely to be completed by October 2006.

In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Syed Nayyer Bokhari, the federal minister said that major portion of katchi abadi Muslim Colony at Noorpur Shahan Bari Imam, Islamabad had recently been provided electricity against the funds of Rs1.8 million.

The project was jointly sponsored by Senators Tahira Latif and Tariq Azeem under Khushhal Pakistan Programme-I. The work was completed in April and installation of meters to individual consumers/applicants was in progress.

The colony comprises about 500 houses, however, the area is scattered and people are continuously constructing houses in the katchi abadi. About 60 houses without electricity fell under this category for which an estimated amount of Rs0.85 million was required to provide electricity.

In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Dr Farid Ahmad Paracha, the minister said there was no load shedding in the country except for places where local problems existed and load management was carried out off and on to save the system.

In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Mohammad Safdar Shakir, minister incharge of the cabinet division Sher Afgan Khan Niazi said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had reported that as per decision of the government, it allowed all mobile operators to provide telecom facilities in the disaster areas on temporary basis.

He said resultantly, mobile operators extended their temporary services to earthquake affected areas including Muzaffarabad. PTA has granted four cellular mobile licences on June 26, 2006 to companies for provision of telecom facilities in AJK areas.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Dr Farida Ahmed, the minister incharge said total number of Mercedes Benz cars presently available with the Cabinet Division was 32 and out of it 22 vehicles were purchased during 2004-06.

He said foreign exchange worth Euro 7,464,235 was spent for purchasing 22 vehicles during 2004-05 and Rs268,383,205 was paid as customs duty during the period. A total of Rs233,762,819 was paid as customs duty for 12 Mercedes Benz during 2005-06, he added.

Mr Niazi said no minister and officer of the Cabinet Division had been provided Mercedes Benz car.

In a written reply to a question raised by MNA Rana Mehmoodul Haq, the minister incharge said Pemra had conveyed that the authority was not in a position to indicate the exact number of illegal FM Radio stations operational in the country.