The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) blamed the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) management during the Sindh Assembly session on Friday for power problems and unrest in the city, whereas the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) emphasised that miscreants and anti-social elements are behind the situation.
Opposition leader Jam Madad Ali raised the issue when PPP and MQM members were engaged in an argument over action required in the matter of MQM Member Provincial Assembly’s abduction and mishandling. Ali drew the house’s attention towards increased electricity failures in the city and demanded to resolve the issue of the protesting KESC employees.
PPP’s Katchi Abadis Minister Rafiq Engineer said that the KESC management is responsible for power problem in the city because it is not taking note of resolving the problems of its employees. He said that the management has created a law and order issue for the government by not initiating dialogue with its employees who have been protesting for a month. Instead of resolving the issue, the KESC has publicly announced keeping all its protesting employees in the surplus pool that has caused resentment among them, he added.
The minister said that on the one hand, the power company has hired some salaried staff and is paying them millions of rupees, but on the other hand, the company has put its lower grade employees in the surplus pool. The management does not pay the dues of Pakistan State Oil and blackmails the government to receive subsidy for it, he added.
Law Minister Ayaz Soomro attempted to fuel the fire by provoking the MQM members, saying that it should be observed who had privatised the KESC. He said that everybody knows that the utility was privatised during the last tenure of Musharraf [when the MQM was in power]. MQM’s Khwaja Izharul Hassan said that the KESC employees could protest to publicise their problems, but miscreants are destroying the power company’s installations under the cover of demonstrations.
He said that armed miscreants have attacked grid feeders of the KESC in several parts of the city to suspend power supply to industries and common citizens alike. He warned that the people would take matters in their own hands if such incidents continue. The katchi abadis minister said that the protesting employees are not involved in these actions. They are not terrorists, but it is the inefficiency of the KESC management that they have not started a dialogue with the employees, he added.
Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro said that some elements would take advantage of the situation if the issue of the protesting employees carries on. He suggested that political parties should resolve the matter through joint efforts, instead of resorting to blame game.
