The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter has announced citywide protest sit-ins from tomorrow (Monday) onwards against the announced and unannounced load-shedding of up to 12 hours in Karachi by the K-Electric (KE).
JI Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced the protest programme of the party at a press conference held on Saturday outside the Sindh Governor House. He also warned to besiege the KE headquarters on June 12 if the situation of power cuts did not improve.
“On the one hand, the KE has irked the citizens, while on the other hand, the federal government has continued showering its blessing in terms of monetary benefits to the private company,” said the JI leader.
Highlighting the fact that the federal government and the governor had approved providing 200-megawatt electricity to the company, he asked the governor to explain how many power plants the KE had been running.
“Why didn’t the KE commission its first unit of the 900-megawatt Bin Qasim Plant 3 despite all towering claims? Under which agreement, the NTDC [National Transmission and Despatch Company] is providing 1,400-megawatt electricity to the private company?” he asked.
The JI city chief said that a large number of the KE’s customers were facing announced power outages of seven hours and another five hours of unannounced load-shedding.
He lamented that though the government and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) were responsible to take action against the KE but instead, Nepra provided relief to the KE and was allowing the private company to further increase its tariff.
Rehman maintained that during the past 15 years, the KE had increased its production capacity by only 11 per cent and miserably failed the purpose of the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s privatisation. He elaborated that despite the passage of 16 years, load-shedding not only prevailed in the city but also was thriving right now. He added that the KE and Nepra were neglecting the orders of the apex court as well as the Sindh High Court.
Responding to a question, he said that the JI supported the demands of traders in the city. He also demanded that the government open educational institutes under the standard operating procedures.
The JI leader added that the water crisis in the city had been aggravating day by day. He also asked the ruling regime about the fate of the Karachi Transformation Plan.