Pay your electricity bills, Asif tells people protesting load shedding

KARACHI: Reacting to the recent protests in many areas of Sindh against the federal government over power outages, Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that no relief will be provided to those who steal electrici. 

He said: “From the areas where people are protesting we are facing high losses, we are doing load shedding for up to 14 hours. Those consumers who pay bills – we readily provide them electricity”.

Asif debunked the perception that Sindh is the specific target of load shedding. “This [problem persists] in the entire country."

“Rather than holding demonstrations, the political leaders should tell the people to pay their bills; they should urge them to put meters rather than opting to steal electricity.”

The minister warned that in case the Water and Power department continues to face issues of defaulted payments, the government will take-off transformers from the relevant areas. “Those who don't pay bills, their troubles won't fade away; in fact, it will increase. We will take off transformers from these areas and won’t provide them electricity.”

Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Moula Bakhsh Chandio on Sunday alleged that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has assigned 'viceroys' to the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) ever since it came to power.

While addressing attendees of the party's protest against electricity load shedding at SSP roundabout in Hyderabad, he said that the government should be held accountable for HESCO's operations.

Separately, at a briefing at National Assembly, Asif claimed that Sindh leads all other provinces in electricity theft. According to the details, he pointed out the federal government faces losses worth Rs34 billion due to electricity theft in Sindh, followed by Rs18 billion in Punjab, Rs17 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and  Rs 340 million in Balochistan.