The government on Thursday has decided to waive 50 percent dues of all defaulting consumers of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) owning inoperative units and could not pay bills for the last five years. The measure has been taken to revive big and small sick industrial units, abandoned tube-wells and to attract greater investment in the country.
This was announced by Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi while addressing members of the National Assembly from four provinces in two separate sittings in the committee room of the Parliament.
Minister of State for Water and Power Engineer Ameer Maqam, water and power secretary, Wapda chairman Tariq Hameed and senior Wapda officials also present on the occasion.
The minister further announced that Wapda will not charge for reconnection of electricity and old transformers will be replaced with new ones.
The minister said Wapda officials have been instructed to give top priority to schemes recommended by members of the parliament and strict action will be taken against those found guilty of negligence.
During the meeting, MNAs complained that some Wapda bureaucrats did not give proper attention to their proposals and suggestions.
The minister assured them that the bureaucracy was accountable and answerable to elected representatives and all development and electrification of villages will be done in consultations with members of the parliament.
Later, talking to Business Recorder the Wapda chairman said the 50 percent waiver will greatly boost country's industrial and commercial activity.
He said there are hundreds of sick industrial units which are lying idle and their electricity bills have gone up to millions of rupees.
He was confident that with this concession owners of those industrial units will revive their industries and provide jobs to thousands of workers laid off by them.
He said if they promised to revive their industrial units, Wapda would provide them further relief by making instalments of the remaining amounts.
The Wapda chairman, who himself comes from the private sector, told that Wapda last year provided electricity connections to more than 7,000 villages and almost the same number of villages are being electrified during the current financial year.
He said because of water scarcity, more and more agriculturists are installing tube wells to tap underground water for irrigation purposes. He said during the past two months more than 3,700 new tube wells have been installed.
Talking about water situation, he said although the power position has improved, yet, the production of hydel electricity has come down from 7000 megawatt to only 2,400 megawatt.
Only yesterday, he said the hydel production dropped by 1800 megawatt. However, he said, Wapda is managing the situation by getting maximum electricity from the independent power producers.
WATER FOR SINDH: The Wapda chairman disclosed that the authority is releasing water from its reservoir for sowing of Rabi crop in Sindh as it starts early in that province.
He said timely rains in Barani areas and upper Punjab, NWFP and Northern Area have raised prospects of good Rabi crop.
The minister will meet MNAs from Sindh and Balochistan on Monday to discuss issues relating to the two provinces as due to Iftar time they could not express their views.
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