HYDERABAD, March 6: Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (CBA) has urged President Pervez Musharraf to keep Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) intact in the interest of country.

President of Union, Abdul Latif Nizamani and other leaders in a joint statement said from 1947 to 1995, the Authority played a key role in industrial, agricultural and commercial development of the country.

They said it constructed dams, hydel, thermal and coal power houses and laid transmission lines through mountains, deserts and valleys to provide electricity to remote villages adding thousands of workers gave their lives during the process.

Hydro union leaders said after 1995, people associated with the IMF and World Bank stopped constructing new dams and power houses in the name of reforms. Not only this, even existing power houses were auctioned at pittance in the name of privatization and undermined Wapda on the pretext of restructuring by creating 15 authorities rather than one.

They said these decisions had not only created disruption in the working of Wapda but also increased administrative expenses by 15 per cent. Due to wrong decisions, they said, the country today was facing huge power crisis with development activities coming to halt.

They said unemployment had reached an alarming level with new opportunities disappearing which had resulted in lawlessness.

They appealed to the president to keep Wapda intact in the interest of the development of the country and the unity of federation.