KARACHI: Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh on Monday said that the provincial government has continuously asked the power distribution companies to ensure supply of uninterrupted electricity in the province in view of public sufferings, although the power utilities were under the authority of the federal government.

He demanded from the federal government to consult the provincial government before entering into a new agreement with the power utility as the provincial government was one of the biggest stakeholders.-

Minister for exempting ‘outage-hit districts’ from further load-shedding

In a statement, he said that the transmission companies were under the authority of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and Power Division of the federal government. “Despite this, the provincial government constantly ask the administration of K Electric, Hesco and Sepco to ensure smooth power supply in the province in view of public sufferings,” he added.

Imtiaz Shaikh said that people of the province were facing a great deal of hardship as the province did not have representation in the K Electric Board and Nepra.

He said that regular bill paying customers could have been saved from frequent power outages with the help of modern technology.

The energy minister said that K Electric claimed that there were arrears of Rs25billion in various areas of Karachi. He said that quantum of load-shedding was determined by the National Transmission and Distribution Company which had its head office in Lahore.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023