The Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) is presently facing losses worth Rs 40 billion because of widespread power theft and a large number of consumers’ failure to pay their electricity bills, PESCO chief Wali Muhammad Khan said on Tuesday.
He said another factor that contributed to the company’s financial woes was last year’s devastating floods that damaged over 60,000 electricity metres. Khan was briefing a meeting held at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly Secretariat, which was chaired by KP Assembly Speaker Kiramatullah Khan.
The PESCO chief told the meeting that the floods also destroyed three power houses in the province. He said the company had to install around 2,000 power transformers in the flooded areas on emergency basis for smooth power supply. Kiramatullah Khan said a comprehensive strategy was needed to revive PESCO. He asked to company to address the public complaints about voltage fluctuations and over billing.
Provincial assembly members Abdul Akbar Khan, Israrullah Gandapur, Nighat Orakzai, Malik Muhammad Qasim, Mukhtiar Ali Khan, Saqibullah Khan Chamkani, Muhammad Ali Khan, Alamgir Khan Khalil, Atiqur Rahman, Atifur Rahman and Badshah Salih also attended the meeting. PESCO chief and other senior company officials briefed the lawmakers on the issues such as power outages, voltage fluctuations and reports of inflated bills.
Meanwhile Deputy KP Assembly Speaker Khushdil Khan also chaired a meeting of the KP Assembly Standing Committee on Rules and Regulation. The committee, taking action on a privilege motion of MPA Saqibullah Chamkani, asked the Pakistan Railways divisional officer and Environment secretary to ensure their presence in the up coming meeting of the committee. The committee also discussed privilege motions of Israrullah Gandapur, Atifur Rahman and Abdul Akbar Khan.
MPAs Waqar Ahmad Khan, Israrullah Khan Gandapur, Malik Qasim Khan Khattak, Mukhtiar Ali Khan advocate, Basir Ahmad Khattak, Nighat Orakzai, Noor Sahar and officials from departments concerned also attended the meeting.
