KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami - Karachi staged sit-in protests at 14 major locations across the city on Friday, demanding an end to load shedding and calling on the government to pass on the financial benefits of revised agreements with IPPs directly to consumers.
Carrying placards and banners, the protesters chanted slogans against the government, the NEPRA and K-Electric. These demonstrations were part of a nationwide protest movement initiated by JI Central Chief, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, as the party resumed its agitation against the government’s inaction to cut power tariff and unfulfilled promises about IPPs.
Addressing a sit-in at Shaheen Complex, JI Karachi Chief Monem Zafar demanded of the government end load shedding in the city, asserting that the country has sufficient electricity production capacity. He highlighted that the government had announced savings of Rs1,100 billion through revised policies on IPPs, emphasizing that this financial relief should be directly passed on to the public.
JI Karachi Chief further stated that the nation has already paid Rs2,000 billion in capacity charges, pointing out that Rs10 billion of taxpayers’ money was paid to an IPP that did not generate even a single unit of electricity. Monem accused the government of collusion with the IPPs, revealing that 52 percent of these companies are owned by the government, 28 percent by influential Pakistani nationals and only 20 percent by foreign entities. Due to mounting pressure from JI, he noted, the government was forced to take some action against this corrupt system.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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