KHYBER/SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: The leaders of various political parties along with local government representatives in Khyber have demanded an immediate end to prolonged electricity load-shedding and proposed convening a jirga for finding a durable solution to the longstanding issue.

Speaking at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme at Landi Kotal Press Club on Thursday, they also called for a complete social boycott of all the elected representatives as they failed to raise the grievances of loadshedding-affected people of Khyber at any appropriate forum.

Terming the excessive load-shedding a critical and perplexing issue, tehsil chairman Shah Khalid demanded of chief minister to convene a grand jirga and hold meaningful dialogue with federal government for a permanent solution to electricity crises in tribal districts.

Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shah Rehman Shinwari said that Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company increased the duration of loadshedding for almost 22 hours despite the fact that electricity was produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in excess of its requirement.

Khudai Khidmatgar Tanzeem Salar Fazlur Rehman admonished the elected representatives for their failure to convey the sentiments of their electorates to federal and provincial governments.

He urged all mainstream political parties and tribal elders to forge unity and raise a collective voice against loadshedding.

In South Waziristan, workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and locals staged protest rally against excessive power loadshedding at Azam Warsak Bazaar on Thursday.

Addressing the rally, PTI local leader Khanzada Wazir said that Tesco provided electricity to them only for two hours. He said that most of the people were forced to install solar panel system owing to excessive power outages.

Haroon Wazir, another PTI leader, said that Lower South Waziristan was a fertile district. However, he said that farmers were unable to run tubewells for irrigating their lands owing to loadshedding.

Wana grid station head Nawar Khan Wazir said that they reduced supply of electricity to tribal districts because people were not paying bills. He said that the schedule of loadshedding was prepared by federal government.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2024