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KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Monday came out hard against K-Electric, Karachi’s sole power distribution company, for sheer incompetence and for not being able to carry out its responsibilities efficiently, saying that the government will “arrest the company’s management if need be.”
Talking to reporters, Memon said during talks with K-Electric, the power distributor was coming up with one excuse or another for the frequent power outages that have troubled the city’s residents throughout the sweltering summers so far.
The information minister said the Sindh government was now “seriously mulling legal action against K-Electric for its deteriorating performance.”
“It is not only incompetence and mal intention on part of K-Electric, it borders on ‘criminal negligence’,” said the minister referring to the frequent blackouts in Pakistan’s largest city.
Read: Karachiites suffer due to fourth blackout in a week
Memon went on to say that K-Electric generated revenue of around Rs16 billion, of which even if half was reinvested into infrastructure, these problems could be tackled.
“I believe K-Electric’s management is incompetent and is unable to deal with the problems plaguing the transmission system in the metropolis.”
The minister also lashed out at the federal government for ignoring the power crisis in the whole of Sindh — not just in Karachi.
“The federal government has a 26% share in K-Electric and has three members on the company’s board but they have completely ignored the crisis,” he said.
Memon said the federal government should play its due role in resolving the issue.
Also read: Delhi residents get paid for power outages - will K-Electric do the same?
“It is time all stakeholders including K-Electric start delivering or we won’t keep away from arresting K-Electric’s management. Neither the public nor the government will let them go,” Memon said.
Meanwhile Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani said K-Electric’s negligence had contributed to the recent deaths during the unprecedented heatwave that hit Karachi last month.
