The Jirga formed by the NWFP government will meet the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Thursday to take up the issue of net hydel profit as the ANP-led provincial government has decided to claim the arrears from 1973.
A senior official in the NWFP government told Business Recorder on telephone that the PPP and the ANP-the two coalition partners-are having complete understanding on the province's net hydel profit. The official said that the present government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the previous MMA provincial government's efforts to take this issue to the arbitration council constituted by the previous central government of the PML-Q.
The arbitration council gave decision under which Wapda was directed to pay the Frontier over Rs 100 billion as arrears with effect from 1991, when the net hydel profit was capped at Rs 6 billion per annum. The payment was to be made by Wapda over the period of three years.
However, Wapda disputed this arbitration and it challenged the decision in a lower court in Islamabad. As a reaction, the MMA government approached the Supreme Court against Wapda move and the matter is still pending in the apex court. The ANP-led Frontier government has already stated that it would seek arrears with effect from 1973. If those arrears are taken into account, Wapda will have to pay more than Rs 500 billion.
The official said that a jirga comprising representatives from almost all the political forces will have detailed discussions with the Prime Minister. The jirga will be led by the Frontier Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti.
The present Frontier government is of the view that MMA government did a blunder by taking the issue to the arbitration council. This issue has become a big hurdle for the present government as Wapda is of the view that NWFP cannot take up the matter as it is already in litigation. However, the official said that the NWFP government would take up the issue at any possible forum as the province's financial problems are growing. It has severely been hit by the unrest mainly due to war on terror for the last over seven years.
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