KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday decided that the provincial government would approach the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and federal ministry of water and power to stop K-Electric from ‘fleecing’ consumers.

This was resolved through a resolution tabled by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker Khurram Sherzaman in the assembly, which passed it after a dozen speeches on the issue by lawmakers across the floor.

The resolution said: “K-Electric was notified on Sept 22, 2016 by Nepra vide letter No TCD-09/6196-2016 to expedite the installation of ToU (Time of Usage) meters for all category of consumers and start billing on a ToU tariff basis where such meters have already been installed. Moreover, the time-of-usage metering/billing facility is legally covered under currently applicable SRO 571(1)201 dated 24 June 2016 as approved by Nepra and issued by the Federal Ministry of Water & Power.

“In addition, K-Electric should install ToU meters throughout the rest of Karachi as soon as possible so that all Karachiites can benefit from ToU tariffs.”

Expressing their feelings over inflated billing, the legislators accused the power utility of fleecing the people and demanded that the Sindh government cancel the agreement with KE and ‘take over’ the company’s management. Some lawmakers also suggested that a parliamentary committee be formed so that the KE management could be summoned to the house and made ‘accountable’.

Provincial minister Shamim Mumtaz said that at the time of KE’s privatisation, the PPP had opposed it. Despite load-shedding for hours, there was no respite from inflated bills, she added.

PTI parliamentary party leader Samar Ali Khan said the KE be made to return the money it had ‘overcharged’ consumers.

MQM parliamentary party leader Syed Sardar Ahmad said utility services ought not to be privatised and asked the government to take over the KE management.

PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Sahar Abbasi said there was nobody left who had not suffered due to KE’s policies.

Earlier, Mr Sherzaman said KE was fleecing people on one pretext or another. He said Nepra had a fixed rate of Rs18 per unit for peak hours (between 6pm and 10pm) and Rs12.5 per unit rate for the rest of the day, but KE charged consumers at the rate of Rs18 per unit for 24 hours. The utility had already ‘plundered’ billions of rupees while even the Sindh Assembly and other government offices were not spared from being overcharged, he said, adding that there were reports about the KE management holding talks with a Chinese firm at present.

On Tuesday, which was a private members’ day, two out of five private resolutions were rejected when put to the house, while one was withdrawn. The other two resolutions, including the one about overbilling by KE, were carried.

The resolution that was opposed by Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro on technical grounds before being rejected by the house when put to vote had been tabled by PML-F legislator Nand Kumar regarding the Sehwan Sharif tragedy. The opposition recorded protest against it by staging a token walkout, but PML-F lawmaker Shaharyar Khan Mahar, who was given the floor to read out his resolution, did not join the boycott, nor did Dr Seema Zia of the PTI.

The other resolution rejected by the house was the one tabled by MQM lawmaker Kamran Akhtar seeking implementation of Urdu as an official language in the province. Opposing the resolution, Mr Khuhro said besides Urdu, Sindhi and English languages, too, were spoken in the assembly. When put to vote, the resolution was rejected by the house.

Condition of schools

PML-F’s Shaharyar Mahar withdrew his resolution about dilapidated conditions of government school buildings after Sindh Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar assured the house of steps to repair them. The minister said that due to his personal efforts, 1,700 out of 4,000 closed schools were made functional. He added that elected representatives should join hands to improve educational institutions and their standard. He said he had set up three colleges in the constituency of the mover and in one of them management courses were being offered. During his speech when some MQM lawmakers tried to interfere, the minister told them that during their government, even teachers’ recruitment forms had been sold.

Through the resolution tabled by Dr Seema Zia, the assembly recommended to the federal government to expedite and ensure the revision of project S-3 on a priority basis to complete the scheme and prevent untreated domestic, municipal and industrial waste from being dumped into the sea.

She said untreated sewage being diverted into the sea was not only a cause of diseases but was also affecting naval installations. She said the colour of seawater had turned black on the beach where children used to make sandcastles; the polluted water was apparently spreading hepatitis and cholera. No health drive could prove effective until untreated waste was stopped from being dumped into the sea.

Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro said the Sindh government was aware of the serious threat to the environment, with 450 mgd (million gallons a day) untreated sewage draining into the sea. The government had initiated a sewage treatment project in 2007 with an estimated cost of Rs7.9 billion, but as it could not be completed on time its estimated cost rose to Rs32bn. The Sindh government had now sent a revised project to Ecnec for approval, he said, adding that the federal government should give its approval at the earliest so that work could be taken in hand as the Sindh government was prepared to share 50 per cent expenses. But the project could not be completed until the federal government paid its share, he said.

The resolution was also supported by half a dozen other lawmakers before it was put to the house.

The house, which was called to order at 10.50am by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, was adjourned at 2.20pm to meet again on Wednesday at 10am.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2017