KARACHI: Sindh Energy Minister Nasir Shah on Saturday said that the K-Electric had agreed to restore power supply of the consumers using up to 200 units ignoring the outstanding dues against them.

A meeting, chaired by Mr Shah and attended by Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani, Leader of the Opposition Ali Khursheedi, Muhammad Farooq of Jamaat-i-Islami and K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi, was held in the Sindh Assembly to discuss the issue of prolonged loadshedding and excessive billings.

During the meeting, it was decided to form a joint committee consisting representatives of the Sindh government and KE to address loadshedding and other issues of the city, a KE statement said, adding that the committee would jointly work on addressing public grievances, ensuring timely bill payments and develop strategies to minimise loadshedding and ensuring uninterrupted power supply in the city.

Another statement issued after the meeting stated that the participants were informed that 12 to 16 hours of loadshedding was being carried out in parts of the city including Lyari.

The MQM-P and JI members also criticised the “anti-people” attitude of the KE.

LG Minister Saeed Ghani said that the behaviour of KE’s top management was against the constitution. “We cannot tolerate such behaviour in any way,” he said.

The KE CEO said that currently 70 per cent of the areas in the city did not have loadshedding.

He said that till now Rs70 billion of electricity dues were outstanding against consumers. “We just want people to pay their recent bills and then we will be in a position to end loadshedding,” he added.

Meanwhile, the KE statement said that the energy minister assured that the government would play a role for the payment of over Rs9bn owed by the Sindh government.

MNA Mirza Ikhtiar Baig suggested to formulate a joint strategy to ensure timely payments and preventing electricity theft, it added.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024