ISLAMABAD: The government is to recover outstanding electricity charges worth Rs 82 billion besides line losses valuing Rs 22 billion and both the factors hinder improvements in the country's power distribution and generation system, said Chief Energy Management Cell Tahir Basharat Cheema on Tuesday.
Briefing the Senate Assembly Standing Committee on Water and Power, he said that the power distribution companies were yet to recover Rs 181 billion from the private consumers, criticizing performance of the staffers concerned.
"We are mulling to forward to NAB the cases against staffers failing to recover outstanding dues from consumers. If they are neither recovering dues nor acting against them, it shows their connivance with the defaulters," he said.
Giving historic account of the load-shedding, he said the problem was created following the adoption of consumption-led growth strategy that involved massive consumer financing by the banks.
Owing to the this strategy, the growth of electricity demand surged to 14.53 percent in 2006 that otherwise used to stand at around five to six percent, adding this growth is recorded negative in USA.
He said despite various presentations by WAPDA, the power generation system was handed over to private sector that failed to deliver; however, the government has now handed over the same to the WAPDA again.
Cheema was of the view that the country's power needs are currently suppressed; however, if an uninterrupted electricity is supplied to consumers, the deficit would further swell by 5,000 megawatts.
To a question, he said the duration of power outages reduces when any transmission line is disconnected or majority of air conditioners are switched off which he said consume around 7,000 MW.
To another question about the output of heavy deployment of army in WAPDA after year 2000 involving two military generals, 11 brigadiers and 46,000 troops, he said the experience could not prove success.
He said losses stood at 24pc in 1998-99, 27.3 pc in 1999-2000 but now it stands at 19pc; however he admitted that the system needs a lot of improvement to minimize it further.
During the briefing, Chief Executive Pesco Brig (retd) Tariq Sadozai said the power infrastructure required heavy investment otherwise it would collapse within next four years.
He stressed the installation of more feeders and power transformers need to be installed in what the committee was told, the ministry has already taken initiatives with cooperation of Asian Development Bank and under Public Sector Development Programme.
He said in his region all of 704 feeders are overloaded and it would take millions rupees to bifurcate the network, adding even the local transformers were also overloaded needing bifurcation.
Additional Secretary of the ministry told the committee that the Wapda has suggested the government to fund the projects through CDL under which the banks would provide loans on guarantee of the federal government.
Comments
Comments are closed.