KARACHI: Opposition and the ruling party members in the provincial assembly on Thursday demanded that the licence of K-Electric (KE) be not extended to end its “highhandedness and monopoly”, as the post-budget debate continued in the house on the third consecutive day.

As many as 17 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke on the budget amid a very thinly attended house.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) member Hashim Raza condemned the KE for loadshedding and overbilling in Karachi.

He said the distribution licence of the power utility was going to be expired on July 20 and it should not be extended further, demanding that new power utilities be inducted in the city.

Mr Raza said that it was the government’s responsibility to protect life and property of the people, and demanded that the Karachi safe city project be completed at the earliest.

17 more lawmakers take part in budget debate on third day

He also demanded that Peoples Bus Service be started from Landhi to Saddar and Landhi to Tower.

PPP lawmaker Raja Razzaque also criticised the KE, saying that its monopoly should come to an end as it carried out up to 18 hours of loadshedding in Karachi citing different reasons.

He also demanded that other power utility companies be inducted in Karachi as that would create an environment of competition and eventually benefit the people.

Jam Shabbir Ali of the PPP said that the provincial government had presented a balanced budget in the current circumstances.

The PPP lawmaker said that around 60,000 teachers had been appointed on merit and no discrimination was done in the recruitment process. He also demanded launching of Peoples Bus Service in Sanghar.

Lal Chand Ukrani, Sajeela Laghari, Hizbullah Bughio, Pir Mujeeb-ul-Huq, Yousuf Baloch, Mumtaz Jakhrani, Sadia Javed and Shaheena Sher Ali of the PPP and MQM-P’s Sadaqat Hussain, Basit Ahmed Siddiqui, Abbas Jafferi, Sanjay Perwani, Mangla Sharma, GDA’s Rafiq Bhanban also spoke on the budget.

The house echoed with huge greetings for the PPP on the election of Barrister Murtaza Wahab as first party mayor of Karachi.

Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, on a point of order, congratulated the mayor-elect and said that there was no harm in taking advantage of opponents’ political weaknesses, referring to the absence of the PTI members in the election.

Mr Ghani termed Barrister Wahab’s election a ‘historical’ victory for the PPP that managed to win the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation for the first time.

Later, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani adjourned the house to Friday (today) at 10:30am.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2023