JI slates raise in electricity tariff

Lahore: Secretary General, Jamaat e Islami, Liaqat Baloch, has condemned the Rs. 5 raise in the electricity tariff per unit to cover line losses and the circular debt, and termed it undue burden on the poor masses.

In a statement here on Thursday, he said that the country was suffering from severe energy crisis and the masses had to bear the brunt of prolonged load shedding. He said theft of electricity was a common phenomenon and the influential people were involved in it. He said at the beginning, the government had begun a campaign against power thieves but that was closed only because they were associated with the ruling junta.

He said, thousands of industrial units had been closed due to energy shortage and the business activity was also badly affected.

He said that the circular debt of the power sector had crossed Rs. 300  billion due to which the electricity tariff was raised every other day. As a result, the common man was unable to foot the electricity bill. He advised the rulers not to take unpopular decisions as might compel the masses to take to streets. He said the WAPDA high ups had repeatedly stated that if only electricity theft was stopped, the menace of load shedding could be minimized and the power theft could also be cut down.

The JI leader wondered why the PML(N) leader who had been camping at the Minar e Pakistan to protest against energy crisis was silent now.