KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Tuesday warned of agitation and protest sit-in against K-Electric for its consistent failure to maintain power supply system that led to consistent outages and breakdowns across the city.

The JI Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, told a press conference outside the KE headquarters near Gizri that a “public convention” against the “KE’s highhandedness” and also shared plan to stage a sit-in outside the KE headquarters in line with its protest campaign against the power utility.

He further said that the KE has unmasked its worst face by carrying out announced and unannounced loadshedding even in the timing of Sehar and Iftar during the holy month of Ramazan.

Deploring the so-called policy of collective punishment to the entire area residents in case of non-payment by a few customers through enhanced time of loadshedding, the JI leader said that the formula misused by the KE should also be used for the same power company.

He elaborated that the licence of the KE and the gas supply to the power company should be suspended under the same formula as the power company had failed to pay hefty bills to the SSGC.

The JI leader said the KE had increased its capacity by only 16 per cent in the last 17 years. He said that the 51pc shares of the KE should be owned by the government while the rest of shares by power companies.

On the occasion, he demanded that the government end the monopoly of the KE in Karachi.

Hafiz Naeem noted that no ruling government was able to take solid measures against the KE despite violation of the agreement between the KE and the state because of the funding of owner of the Abraj Capital — the parent company of the KE.

He claimed that the KE received 1,000 megawatt from the national grid without any formal agreement, but the citizens in Karachi had been facing loadshedding of up to 12 hours in several areas.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2022