Leghari's second letter: Sindh chief minister's help sought for clearance of KE's dues by KWSB

Federal Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, has sought Sindh Chief Minister's help to resolve liabilities issue between K-Electric (KE) and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB). Leghari, who considered the Karachi issue as national issue, has sent second letter in two days to Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah over the issue.
"Federal government has taken various measures to provide relief to the residents of Karachi, including the convening of multiple meetings between stakeholders for deciding upon urgent steps to be taken," he wrote in the letter. Severe criticism from Sindh's political leadership especially PPP against the federal government hastened the minister to write second letter without delay. However, he asserted KW&SB is the sole responsibility of Sindh government under the constitutional 18th amendment.
"Principal amount payable by KE to SSGC stood at Rs 13.7 billion while the remaining Rs 60-70 billion was late payment surcharge based on standard policy," he said. The common perception within the K-Electric's management is that Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance, Dr Miftah Ismail is behind gas curtailment move. But; officially, no one is ready to come forward and comment on it. Miftah is also facing similar charges in case of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
Leghari further wrote in the letter that any contractual agreement can not override the constitutional provisions therefore the government of Sindh should resolve the issue of payments of its own department ie KWSB He also reminded the CM Murad Shah that Nepra is a national entity since Sindh is represented through its own appointed member.
"With respect to your comments regarding Nepra, please note that it is a national and federal entity, and the Authority is at all times represented by the Sindh government through its representative. With the help of your government, we have also managed successful passage of amendments to the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electricity Act, 1997 which is expected to improve regulatory quality over the coming years. We hope to continue to work together in future as well to ensure enhanced regulatory capacity," he said.
The Minister assured all out support and said that despite no legal backing the federal government is continuously providing 650MW to KE only for the sake of people of Karachi. He asked Sindh CM to consider the issue of Karachi as a national issue. He urged him to play his role to compel the provincial department to sit with KE for resolution of payment issues.
Awais Leghari said that as far as the question of outstanding payables of Karachi Water and Sanitation Board is concerned, "it may be noted that KWSB is the responsibility of the Government of Sindh on account of the 18th Amendment and such responsibility cannot be overridden by any contractual agreement."
He stressed that provincial government entities, including the KWSB, are also important stakeholders who cannot shirk their responsibility of paying for electric power services being provided to them. He called for resolution of issues urging Sindh Chief Minister to treat that as an issue of national importance in which the residents, business and industry of one of the most important cities of the country are at stake.
He emphasised that provincial government ought to play its due role in order to enable Centre to serve the citizens and to that end, direct the provincial government departments to sit with other stakeholders so that the matter can be resolved at the earliest.