KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq on Sunday said load-shedding and excessive billing of electricity was a huge problem and his party would raise the issue across the country as it did in Karachi.

“It is a huge problem. People are extremely worried over paying excessive bills. This issue should be resolved in the favour of those on whose votes rulers have made their governments,” said Mr Haq while addressing his party workers protesting outside Governor House against K-Electric for being allegedly involved in excessive billing and prolonged power outages in Karachi.

He joined the sit-in, which continued on a second consecutive day, soon after arriving in the city that was already buzzing with several political rallies including Imran Khan-led PTI’s.

He said his party’s sit-in in Karachi would continue until it succeeded in its objective and similar protests would be held elsewhere in the country.

“This sit-in will continue until the people are given the relief they deserve; until the money they have been fleeced of unjustifiably is returned, and until every household of Karachi is given uninterrupted power supply. Similar protests would be organised across the country in which we’ll highlight public woes and strive for their solution,” the JI chief announced.

Referring to the general elections scheduled for next year, he said the present government had little time left to do good for the people. “It is not honeymoon period for them, they have very little time to do good for the people, but hoping better from them now would be joke when we know that they have done nothing in the past four years for those who voted them.”

He said his party had always strived for the people of Karachi and would never leave them in the lurch.

Earlier, the religious party’s workers and leaders passed a night while sitting along a street chanting slogans against the K-Electric.

They asked the KE to shun overbilling and return Rs200 billion that they claimed the utility had pocketed by fleecing citizens through various charges.

A spokesperson of the K-Electric refuted any claims of overbilling.

Reacting over the JI’s protest, a KE spokesperson said the power utility ‘strongly condemns’ misinformation and unfounded allegations being spread by certain individuals, “which has mainly emerged after the drive against power theft and illegal abstraction”.

“All billing is done as per regulatory processes and guidelines. KE offers a wide range of customer care touch points,” said the spokesperson.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2017