The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has termed the unprecedented electricity load shedding “a national and humanitarian issue” and has said it is willing to resolve the issue through consensus.
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa electricity generation is much more than its consumption, therefore, it must be exempted of electricity load shedding,” the provincial information minister, Iftikhar Hussain said during a press conference on Tuesday.
He said constitutionally there was no justification for WAPDA or the federal government to go for hours-long electricity load shedding in this province.
Referring to a recent statement by PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain regarding the NFC Award, Hussain said, “We considering energy crises a national issue, therefore, we are determined to help in resolving it.”
However, he said such type of matters could easily be addressed through other sources including foreign grants and assistance.
The provincial information minister said there was capacity of 22,000 mega watts of electricity generation but due to unavailability of gas and furnace oil, the generation capacity had decreased by 50 percent.
He alleged that the Power Control Authority Islamabad was responsible for illegal, unconstitutional and immoral electricity load shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On Such grounds, he said it was high time the authorities concerned dissolved WAPDA and let the provinces look after electricity transmission and distribution.
Hussain said WAPDA had included FATA and Azad Kashmir when calculating electricity consumption for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“WAPDA needs to review its electricity load shedding schedule.”
The provincial minister said the APC convened by the ANP would only discuss one point – the electricity load shedding. “Therefore, they are requesting all political forces to attend.” He said after consulting leaders and representatives of all political forces, the party would announce the future line of action.
Meanwhile, the provincial government had also shown concern over federal government’s attempts for the revival of the Education Ministry on the pretext of curricula. “Such acts on the part of the federal government are contrary to the 18th Amendment and would not be tolerated.”
