July 25, 2008	Friday	Rajab 21, 1429

KARACHI, July 24: Participants of a seminar on the city’s power woes on Thursday called for the restructuring of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), setting up of a citizen’s electricity board to monitor the functioning of the power utility and finding of alternative sources of energy.

The logic of privatisation of the energy utility was also questioned at the seminar, organised by the Institution of Electronics and Electrical Engineers Pakistan (Karachi Chapter) and the Institution of Engineers Pakistan on Thursday.

PPP leader Taj Haider, who presided over the seminar, said reliance on imported fuel for power generation be reduced, and alternative resources be explored owing to a rise in fuel costs.

He said that he had also conceived the idea of setting up of a provincial authority for power generation, transmission, and distribution as per the provisions of the 1973 Constitution to resolve the electric supply problems.

KESC’s director Syed Tanzeem Hussain Naqvi claimed that the utility had failed to deliver due to fault on the part of the management.

Samir Hoodbhoy, an engineer, said that the KESC should adopt the telemetry system to overcome its power and revenue losses, and young graduates in various engineering disciplines be consulted for implementing such a computerised system, instead of unnecessarily invoking support from international donors.