F.P. Report
KARACH: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has written third letter to Prime Minister Shahid Haqan Abbas, it emerged on Friday at a time when Jamaat-i-Islami and Pak Sarzameen Party separately staged protest demonstrations against prolonged load shedding in the province.
“It seems that the PML-N Government has decided to target the people of Sindh for categorically rejecting it in the polls, however, we cannot act as a silent spectator to this situation,”
He says in his letter to the prime minister that he is compelled to write him yet again on the matter of reduced gas supply to K-Electric for power generation, as after two previous letters and numerous phone calls, the people of Sindh, particularly of Karachi, continue to cruelly be deprived of electricity. The only losers in the on-going blame game between K-Electric and SSGC are the residents of Pakistan’s largest city.
The chief minister says “I may emphasize again that the responsibility of resolving this issue lies with the Government of Pakistan (GOP), as it owns over 70 percent of SSGC and almost 25 percent of K-Electric. He adds that both the regulators i.e. NEPRA and OGRA are also federal entities. He further says it is also important to note that when the Implementation Agreement was signed between private party and GOP for privatization of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), Sindh Government was kept away and was not a party to the said agreement. Murad Ali Shah says that through that agreement, GOP guaranteed the payment of all outstanding liabilities payable to KESC, including those of Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KW&SB). While, the Sindh government is paying the current dues of KW&SB on time, the payment of liabilities remains the responsibility of GOP as per contractual arrangements.
The chief minister says that the apathy and indifference being demonstrated by Government of Pakistan in resolving this issue is not only adding to the miseries of the people of Karachi but is also turning it into a law & order problem as various political parties and civil society organizations have threatened to agitate on the streets on this issue. “It is apprehended that vested interests may take advantage of this situation by resorting to violence, thus threatening the peace in Karachi, which has been achieved through intense efforts of both the governments and through great sacrifices of our law enforcement agencies,” the chief minister says.
Sindh Chief minister further says in his letter that It is not only Karachi that is suffering due to indifference of GOP, but also other areas of Sindh, which are experiencing electricity outages for an average of 16 hours a day and in some places up to 20 hours a day due to poor performance of HESCO and SEPCO. “This is an appalling failure of the government machinery,” he deplores.
Murad Ali Shah complaints with the prime minister that It seems that the PML-N Government has decided to target the people of Sindh for categorically rejecting it in the polls, however, we cannot act as a silent spectator to this situation. He further says “the people of Sindh are citizens of Pakistan and enjoy equal rights and consideration under the constitution. He adds “the citizens of this province are not ready to tolerate GOP’s blatant discrimination anymore,” he warns.
In the conclusion of his letter, the chief minister tells the prime minister that if this reminder also fails to wake up the federal government to the plight of people of Sindh and fails to bring an urgent remedial response from it, I will raise the issue strongly in the CCI and NEC meeting scheduled next week and will not participate in discussion on any other agenda item unless a decision is made on this issue to the satisfaction of the justified demand of people of Sindh.
He hopes that immediate directives will be issued by Prime Minister Office to all concerned for resolving this issue without any further delay of time and without letting thing get out of control.
