EDITORIAL: Summer never comes without the curse of load-shedding in this country, more in rural than urban areas, but this year has already been particularly bad because of the government’s own inability to plan in advance and take timely action, especially when it did not have enough reserves for a last minute, much more expensive scramble.
So we already have more than 10 hours of scheduled and unscheduled load-shedding in urban areas and reported 12-18 hours of blackouts in rural areas even though summer was late to start in most parts of the country.
The government has barred NPCC (National Power Control Centre) from sharing demand and supply data with media outlets – to hide the breakdown in its own machinery, no doubt – but figures indicating about 29,800MW demand and 23,245MW supply, implying a shortfall of over 5,500MW, have already reached the press; amid chatter that the NPCC top brass is facing charges for gross incompetence as well as irregularities in the appointment of a key senior position.
Remember, this is happening at a time when consumers have to pay inflated bills ranging from Rs40-50 per unit, including surcharges and other taxes. This has a detrimental effect on many levels. It’s not just that ordinary people must brave long hours of load-shedding in extreme heat and then pay through their nose for the little electricity that they do get, all because of an inefficient and corrupt governance machinery, which is of course extremely unfair.
It’s also that this breakdown eats into businesses as well, increasing costs and compromising production when the economy is already collapsing. That has a very direct impact on earnings and employment, which deeply affects society as a whole.
When you consider that this is primarily because the right departments are stuffed with the wrong people, and this trend has not changed despite ample evidence incriminating all the usual suspects, you have to wonder if the state really wants to take this bull by the horns.
For example, it’s been reported that written, formal requests to the petroleum division back in April 2023 to import LNG ahead of time, given the country’s financial crunch fell on deaf ears, and an opportunity to purchase LNG at cheaper rates was allowed to go begging.
This is not the first time this has happened, of course, and it’s unlikely that it will be the last. This is yet another one of those issues where all administrations, regardless of the party in power, are equally to blame. That’s because whenever a political party comes to power it throws its own manifesto out of the window and concentrates all its energies in sorting out its opponents, so to speak.
The people and their needs are always much lower on the priority list. But now the rot in most sectors, especially the power sector, has run so deep that brushing it under the carpet any longer risks unraveling the entire economy. And now, not only has the cost of essential reforms, delayed since forever, risen exponentially, it’s also no longer certain if it’s possible to straighten things out in time anymore.
There is a very real threat of sovereign default, after all, and with all the compromises that lenders like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) now require, there are already ominous signs that time may have run out altogether.
What must still be done, however, is mobilising the long arms of the law so the process of accountability can, at least, take off while authorities still mull over reforms. If the people cannot get electricity, or returns on investment, for no fault of theirs, they must at least get to see those whose incompetence and corruption caused them so much harm are named, shamed and duly punished.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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