LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), July 13: Electricity supply to more than 60 marble units in Malagori area remained suspended for the fifth day as representatives of the Tribal Areas Electricity Company (Tesco) and marble factory owners failed to reach an agreement about the installation of power meters at the industrial units. While Tesco officials insisted that power supply could only be restored when the factory owners agreed to install meters at their units, the owners insisted that they should be charged a fixed monthly amount in view of the backwardness of the tribal area.

Giving details of the meeting held at the office of the Tribal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Tesco spokesman Anwar Marwat said the company was not authorized to grant any relaxation to industrial units in tribal areas.

He said tariff concession could only be granted by the federal government through a committee.

He said Tesco was incurring a monthly loss of Rs90 million and it was unable even to pay salaries to its staff in the region. He said installation of meters could solve the problems faced by the company.

He said that if any relaxation was granted to tribal industrialists, the same treatment would be demanded by those in the settled districts.

A representative of the Malagori marble industries owners, Haji Rozi Khan, however, insisted that the government had in April 1991 agreed to charge their units Rs2,000 per month in keeping with the backwardness of their area and their being affected by the Warsak Dam.

He claimed that the Warsak area was the joint property of the Malagoris and the Mohmands and they should be compensated for the loss of their properties because of the construction of the dam in 1956.

He said the government was forcing people in the area to resort to violent methods as the residents of Sui took up arms to claim their right to royalty for gas.

He said Warsak Dam royalty the constitutional right of people of the area.

The Tesco spokesmen told Dawn that some marble units owners had used threatening language during the meeting on Monday.