Minister for Power Omer Ayub on Tuesday informed the National Assembly that no electricity load shedding is being carried out on eighty percent feeders across the country. Responding to a calling attention notice moved by Fazal Muhammad Khan, the minister said that that out of 8,610 total feeders, no load management is being carried out on 6,610 feeders. He clarified that load management is only being carried out in the areas where line losses are high.
He said that there are 85 percent line losses in Peshawar, DI Khan and Bannu districts. He said that network of transformer mafia has been busted which was involved in the embezzlement of Rs 200 billion.
He said that the present government has initiated a drive to improve recoveries and check electricity theft. As a result of this drive, line losses have been reduced by 2.4 percent across the country whilst recoveries witnessed an increase of 1.3 percent over the last four months.
He said over 27,082 FIRs have been registered against the people involved in power pilferage. Of these, about 4,400 people have also been sent behind bars. He said, "We have also taken action against the staff of WAPDA and terminated over 450 officials for being hand in glove with the power pilferers."
The minister said no compromise will be made in eliminating Kunda (illegal hook) culture. He said that efforts are also afoot to improve the power transmission system with Rs 2.5 billion have been released for installation of Aerial Bundle Cable (ABC) to check the power pilferage. He claimed that 10,000 people would be recruited on merit.
Responding to another calling attention notice regarding recent increase in the prices of petroleum products, Omer Ayub said, "Our mission is to provide relief to the masses. This is the reason that we did not fully pass on the increase in petroleum prices recommended by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to the masses." He further said, "Unlike the previous government, we have reduced taxes on petroleum products in order to shield the consumers from the increase in oil prices in the international market."
Regretting the apathy of previous governments towards oil and gas exploration, Omer Ayub, who also holds the additional charge of Petroleum Ministry, said the present government is set to take forward the onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling. He said international companies are showing great interest in the exploration sector and they will be fully facilitated to bolster local production. "We also aim to double the capacity of our refineries," he added.
The federal minister said that oil prices were at historic low of $22 per barrel in the previous regime but the relief was not passed on to the consumers. He said previous government was charging sales tax at the rate of 29 to 30 percent whilst the present government has brought it down to 17 percent.
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