HYDERABAD, Sept 7: Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi has directed the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company to redress grievances of the consumers regarding inflated and detection bills and load shedding.

He was talking to the officials of the company here on Monday on his first visit to the Power Wing Colony where he planted a sapling. He also received a briefing from chief executive of Hesco Syed Adeebul Hassan Rizvi.

The minister directed the Hesco staff to maintain close liaison with the consumers and adopt a civilized behaviour towards them. He also directed that power theft should be completely eliminated and strict action should be taken against power thieves and the defaulters.

He directed that a complaint cell should be established by Hesco and the complaints should be forwarded to his ministry. Mr Jatoi said that a programme would be launched through TV and print media to apprise the people about huge losses sustained by Wapda due to power theft and illegal connections and the loss of life and property due to accidents occurring during establishment of illegal power connections.

He announced the formation of a five-member inspection team - comprising a retired army official, members of judiciary, education and engineering departments and a public representative - to check the performance of Wapda's power distribution companies.

He said that a magistrate would be appointed in Hesco within one month to help recover the dues and look into other legal matters. The minister said that he would personally monitor the development schemes.

COMPUTER LABS: The University of Sindh set up a computer complex with five laboratories at a cost of Rs3 million at the Dr N.A. Baloch Sindh University Model School here on Tuesday.