Golen Gol power project: MNA seeks electricity supply to upper Chitral

CHITRAL: Member National Assembly (MNA) Shahzada Iftikharuddin has urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to facilitate the agreement between Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) for supply of electricity from the Golen Gol project to Upper Chitral.

After destruction of the Reshun hydel power station in the July 2015 flash floods, Upper Chitral had been without power. Now when unit one of the 108 MW Golen Gol project is ready, the Pedo is allegedly not signing the power supply agreement. The Pedo owns the distribution system in the area.

The Member National Assembly said the cut-off date of January 5, 2018 for reaching a power purchase agreement for Golen Gol electricity project given to Pedo and Pesco as per decision of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning Development and Reforms meeting held on December 28 in Chitral has already lapsed and Pedo has not filled the requisite forms, let alone reaching an agreement.

He said that the Pedo did not attend a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Planning Development and Reforms held in Islamabad on December 4, 2017 for unknown reasons.

“Pedo’s non-serious approach was also obvious when it sent unprepared junior level officials to the second meeting of the standing committee held on December 28, 2017 at Golen Gol project office in Chitral,” he added.

The Member National Assembly said the chief executive officer of Pesco and the chairman of Wapda had been writing to Pedo for the last nine months but the KP government gave a lukewarm response. Pedo officials were taken on a site visit to the Golen Gol project and

shown all the technical arrangements on ground by Pesco and Wapda.

Both the coalition partners in the KP government – PTI and JI – remain high on talk and low on action and their local cadres continue to issue warnings to the KP government, rather than asking it to side with the public.

It is hoped that the provincial government senses the public’s pulse and takes proactive measures by signing the power purchase agreement with Pesco and desist from playing dirty politics that will only prolong the miseries of the public. A solution simply requires signing the agreement, he added.

The Member National Assembly said he spoke to Pesco chief engineer and director planning and was informed they had contacted Pedo at least five times after the December 28 standing committee meeting in Chitral to sign the agreement but so far Pedo has not given any positive response.

“Upon contacting, the Pedo planning officer also had no information. I had separately tried to speak to the secretary energy KP as well as the chief planning officer Zainullah and none was available. I also sent an SMS to Chief Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan who is an upright officer and had always responded in the affirmative when it came to issues of Chitral as he has served as DC Chitral,” he added.

The Member National Assembly appealed directly to the chief minister to intervene and help solve the problem. People are out on the streets demonstrating against lack of power. He said the direct intervention of the chief minister would put an end to dirty politics.

“Politicians are exploiting the outraged public who is agitating on a daily basis, creating law and order situation, which can easily be averted if dealt proactively. It would be prudent if Pedo proactively reaches agreement for it to be seen as part of the solution and not part of the problem,” he said, adding, the protests would turn violent if Chitral and Drosh get electrified and Upper Chitral with Pedo distribution system is left out.