–Lawmaker says KP facing power cuts even though it generates way more electricity than need
PESHAWAR: Main opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly have urged the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of non-payment of province’s net-hydel profit by the federal government and direct it to invest in hydro-power resources in KP instead of investing in expensive power generation projects in other provinces.
The political parties’ leaders said that the PTI government in KP failed to secure the net-hydel profit from the central government added that it couldn’t generate even a single unit of electricity over the past seven years.
Sardar Hussain Babak, parliamentary leader of Awami National Party (ANP) and deputy opposition leader in KP Assembly, told the media-persons that KP has the potential to generate 30,000 megawatts (MW) power generation from its hydropower resources.
He claimed that the federal government was reluctant to invest in KP projects and was spending money on expensive power projects in other provinces. He said that the federal government should start power generation projects in KP so the country can overcome the power shortage without putting an additional burden on the public.
Babak also complained that the federal government was selling the electricity at much higher prices to KP and claimed that per-unit cost of electricity production in KP was just Rs1 but the province was forced to purchase its own electricity at Rs18 per unit.
Babak further added that the province was facing power cuts even though it was generating 6,000MW electricity –more than 4,400MW than its consumption.
“The federal government has refused to pay electricity net profit to province according to AGN Kazi formula,” said the ANP leader, adding that the provincial government has failed miserably to obtain net hydel profit from the federal government.
He alleged the country was being operated on the province’s resources and revenue but in the province, there an increase in unemployment and backwardness which is now unbearable for the people.
Pakistan People’s Party leader Senator Bahramand Tangi told Pakistan Today that the present provincial government was unable to secure the net-hydel profit from central government.
Tangi added that due to the ‘flawed’ policies of the KP government, it has failed to invest in the province’s hydel resources.
The PPP leader said that the PTI failed to construct the 356 small dams in KP despite taking loans from the Asian Development Bank. Tangi said that former chief minister Pervez Khattak used to say that if they got the government in the centre, they would bring the net-hydel profit to the province and initiate mega power generation projects but so far, the government couldn’t initiate any such project.
Provincial Amir Jamat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said that at present, the province’s net-hydel profit was more than Rs500 billion under the Kazi formula. He said in the past, the PTI government has taken a loan from the bank to pay net-hydel profit to the province, but later on, the province was asked to pay interest on the loan which was received by the federal government.
In this regard, Khan said, Jamat-e-Islami had submitted a motion in the Senate which was referred to the Standing Committee and from there it was decided to payment of the net hydel profit to KP under AGN Qazi formula, but so far no payment has been made.
The JI provincial chief added when the current PTI government was in opposition, it was demanding the federal government to pay the net profit of to KP under the AGN Qazi formula but now they want to abolish this formula despite the fact that this formula is approved from CCI, Supreme Court and NFC Award.
