KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party staged a protest sit-in outside the head office of the K-Electric on Sunday against prolonged power cuts and excessive loadshedding in the city and demanded the government to reverse its privatisation.

Carrying party flags, a large number of PPP workers converged at the Gizri head office of the KE — formerly known as the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) — and shouted slogans against the power utility for carrying out long spells of load shedding on a daily basis.

Senior PPP leader Raza Rabbani led the rally. Others included provincial ministers Nisar Khuhro, Sharjeel Memon, Senators Taj Haider, Saeed Ghani, party MNAs and MPAs, office-bearers and others.

Addressing the protesters, Mr Rabbani said that a recent massive power outage across the city proved the incompetence of the Abraaj-led management of the power utility.

He said that the PPP had opposed the privatisation of the KESC during former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf’s regime, as the only interest of a capitalist was in minting money as they had no interest to provide electricity to the people.

He condemned the KE for carrying out loadshedding for 16 hours on a daily basis in Karachi.

He warned that if loadshedding was not stopped forthwith the party would give a call to stage demonstrations throughout the country.

He also condemned the KE for terminating the services of its 7,000 regular technical employees and said that the power utility had no respect for labour laws.

Mr Khuhro, who is also the senior Sindh minister, said that the privatisation of the KESC was illegal. He demanded that the K-Electric should be taken over again by the government by reversing its privatisation.

Senator Taj Haider said that the K-Electric management was deliberately carrying out loadshedding.

Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said that the prolonged loadshedding caused worst water shortage in the city. He demanded that the Sindh government take notice of the excessive loadshedding by the KE.

He said that the Nawaz Sharif-led government was victimising the people of Sindh for voting the PPP to power in the province by depriving them of electricity, water and gas. “If these things are not provided to the people within 15 days, the PPP would be forced to bring out people on roads in the province.”

A parliamentary delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement also participated in the protest.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014