Murad urges political parties to stage sit-in in front of PM House

F.P. Report

KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, on Thursday visited Idara Noor-e-Haq – headquarters of the religo-political party, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) which is running a drive against the load shedding while in the morning CM urged upon all political parties to stage a sit-in in front of the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

“The federal government doesn’t care about the long hours load shedding in the largest city of Pakistan, that’s why I request all political parties to stage a sit-in in front of the Prime Minister House in Islamabad,” he told while addressing the Sindh Assembly session.

“It’s the court decision that Sui Southern will provide uninterrupted gas to K-Electric but KE is getting 90 MGDF gas instead of 250 MGDF gas,” he said.

He said that the situation in other cities of Sindh was worst than Karachi. Murad Ali Shah in the evening visited Karachi offices of the Jamaat-e-Islami in a bid to persuade the religo-political party to postpone its sit-in in front of the CM House, Karachi.

Earlier, He said the power crisis is the result of a dispute between K-Electric and Sui Southern Gas Company. “I have written to the PM twice but to no avail,” he said. “We are being pressured to adopt LNG. Everyone knows how money is being minted in the name of LNG.”

“Sukkur, Larkana and my constituency, Sehwan, are facing 14-, 16- and 18-hour-long power cuts,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “What is it if not enmity with Sindh?” Murad said Nepra has also blamed K-Electric for the current power crisis.

Briefing media at Chief Minister House, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that Sehwan is subjected to over 18 hours of load shedding. “I used to get complaints of load shedding when I was the provincial finance minister and it has become the biggest problem of Karachi,” CM shared.

Putting the blame on Sui Southern Gas Company (SSCG), Shah said that the issue lies with SSGC primarily. “We tried to solve the issue by calling up representatives of K-Electric and SSGC. The government holds 73 per cent shares in Sui Southern Gas Company (SSCG) and they have no regard for this issue.

The issue is also being dealt with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which claims that the issue was created by both parties as SSGC owes Rs110 billion to K-Electric.

“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is doing all this to show its enmity towards Sindh,” Shah said. Sindh has the first right to gas as the province produces 70 per cent of natural gas.

“I wrote two letters to the PM detailing the issue of load shedding in Karachi, Naushero Feroz, Sukkur, Salah Pat, Mirpur Khas, Larkana and Bakshapur which are facing power outages up to 16 hours, while Hyderabad is facing 14 hours of load shedding,” he added.

Some people are staging a protest on the shortage of water and electricity. To make the protest meaningful, all parties should march to the PM House and stage a sit-in.

Meanwhile, NEPRA officials appearing before a standing committee termed K-Electric responsible for the power crisis in the city. NEPRA officials stressed that K-Electric should be provided gas and at the same time, an investigation should be carried out against it.