PESHAWAR, Sept 20: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Saturday inaugurated a new electricity feeder in Darra Adamkhel, frontier region of Kohat.

The feeder, completed at a cost of Rs8.5 million, would provide a relief to the tribal people from loadshedding. It would be linked with the 132kv Kohat grid station.

Speaking on the occasion, Iftikhar Hussain Shah said the government and Wapda were justified in expecting from the consumers that they would make full payment for the electricity consumed.

With the completion of this feeder, a 66kv transmission system completed at a cost of Rs35 million also started functioning.

The governor regretted that Wapda suffered huge losses due to internal mismanagement and certain unrealistic decisions made in the past which not only halted the development process but also caused difficulties for the consumers.

The southern districts of the province together with the adjoining tribal agencies were most seriously affected due to this process, he said, adding that even today in most of the areas the people experienced long-duration loadshedding.

He said under a comprehensive project the existing infrastructure of power distribution was being improved by replacing the old equipment. Similarly, the governor said Wapda was also working on some major projects in the province with Gomal Zam dam at the top of the list.

Besides a large number of tribal elites, the ceremony was also attended by elected representatives and government officials.