PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtun­khwa labour and public health engineering minister Shah Farman on Monday alleged the federal government had intentionally subjected his province to excessive loadshedding only because the local population rejected PML-N in the last general elections.

Addressing a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, the minister said Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) was not interested in installing power meters in the suburbs of the provincial capital and recovering arrears from power consumers.

“We, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly members, pay for power transformers from own funds but they’re installed by PML-N leaders. This action is extremely lamentable,” he said.

Also read: PA moved against centre for ‘ignoring’ KP

The minister said all tenders given in media clearly showed that PTI MPAs spent own funds for the installation of transformers but they were not asked to inaugurate them.

Alleges local people being punished for voting against PML-N

He said all members of Pesco board of directors were PML-N leaders, who were not bothered about workers of other parties and served workers of own party only.

Shah Farman said PML-N provincial information secretary and member of the Pesco board of directors Nasir Khan Musazai had begun removing transformers from the areas, where his party had no worker.

“The SDO of Rehman Baba subdivision recently submitted an application to the local police against the PML-N leader for keeping Pesco employees in habeas corpus for installing transformer against his will,” he claimed.

The minister said he visited the relevant Pesco offices several times and requested officials to install power meters but to no avail.

He said Pesco was not serious about installing meters or launching a campaign for the recovery of arrears from consumers.

Shah Farman alleged Engineer Amir Muqam, adviser to the prime minister, used Pesco resources for political gains and totally ignored the deserving people in distribution of power transformers in parts of Peshawar.

He said it was the government’s duty to appoint technical staff members of the Pesco board of directors instead of politicians and that it was mere joke with the power company.

“Such actions are to blame for prolonged loadshedding,” he said.

The minister said it was unfair to deprive people of electricity for 18-20 hours daily in the hot summer season despite the fact that their province was a major producer of electricity. He rejected the opposition’s claim about the lapse of development funds in the province and said his government had made a comprehensive plan to use funds efficiently and without misuse.

“Our government deserves the credit for ensuring that the contracts of developmental works are given purely on merit,” he said, adding that in the past, all such contracts were given in violation of merit.

Shah Farman claimed that the government’s policies against corruption had born fruit.

Adviser to the chief minister Ishtiaq Ormar and other PTI leaders were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2015

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