SUKKUR, Oct 20: Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi has expressed dismay over the unsatisfactory performance of the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) and directed authorities to take measures to minimise line losses and expedite efforts to recover outstanding billing amounts from defaulting consumers.

The powerful bureaucrat, who not only served former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as his principal secretary but also worked as secretary of the defence and cabinet divisions, visited the Sepco headquarters in Sukkur and chaired a meeting to review its performance on Saturday.Sepco Chief Executive Officer Shankar Lal gave a briefing to the secretary and informed her about his limitations with regard to recovery of outstanding electricity arrears.

Sources said that she expressed her anger over less than 50 per cent recovery and Sepco’s failure to contain line losses.

Ms Sethi told the Sepco authorities to improve their performance, minimise line losses up to permissible limits of technical losses, disconnect power supply of defaulter consumers without any leniency and discrimination and take legal action against them.

She asked the CEO to provide names of 500 big defaulters to the media against whom outstanding arrears were above Rs500,000.

She warned the officers that they would be removed from service if they failed to improve the recovery position and minimise line losses.

She said that the government wanted to end loadshedding in the country in order to ensure stable power supply to the people of country.

She also directed installation of new electricity connections immediately.

The Sepco CEO constituted a committee to monitor the recovery drive and minimise line losses.

All officials concerned were directed to submit lists of consumers against whom arrears amounting to Rs500,000 were outstanding so that action could be taken against them.

Hyderabad: Ms Sethi visited the Jamshoro Thermal Power House, which is undergoing rehabilitation under the USAID funding, on Friday.

She held meetings with officials, including chief executive officer Ishtiaq Ahmed Mahar and union leaders, and underscored the need for early rehabilitation of the power house.

There are four units in the power house — one Japanese and three Chinese — and the rehabilitation of the latter is set to be completed by December.

The federal government had signed implementation letters with USAID in March this year to upgrade three thermal power stations of Guddu, Jamshoro and Muzaffargarh. USAID would provide $51 million and with such assistance the power stations would save $35 million annually towards the fuel cost. “She was informed about some delay in shipment of equipment to the power house otherwise work is going on round the clock,” said an official.

He informed that a delegation of union called on her and presented their charter of demands. She promised that she would seriously look into their demands and would get them accepted.

Union leader Bashir Ahmed Chandio said that he told Ms Sethi that power house workers, including lower grade employees and engineers, were working sincerely to save expenditures that were otherwise incurred on foreign experts.

“She assured us that she is not a typical bureaucrat and work with pro-workers mindset so there is no need to worry about demands,” said Mr Chandio.

CEO Mahar said that the Japanese unit would start producing 225 megawatts by March and the Chinese units would produce up to 185 megawatts. “There are some procedural delays in the shipment of equipment that are obtained from China and the United Kingdom,” he said, adding that such shipment was to reach within one week.