Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government will take the matter to the Supreme Court if the federal government fails to call a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to resolve the issue of pending net hydel power profit dues. Talking to Business Recorder, senior Vice President ANP Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel accused Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of not complying with Arbitration Commission's decision to pay net hydel profit to the province in a timely manner.
The KP government has decided to raise the issue of non-payment of Rs 258 billion arrears as well as delayed annual release of 6 billion rupees to the province by the federal government on all available platforms including CCI, National Assembly and Senate. And as a last resort, the provincial government would move to the Supreme Court, Adeel added.
Adeel further said that the arbitration tribunal, set up for resolving the longstanding issue between KP and Wapda over the payment of arrears from net hydel power profit had ordered the latter to pay Rs 110 billion to the province in four equal instalments. Last year, Wapda paid Rs 25 billion to the province but instead of paying the entire amount in one instalment, as directed by the Arbitration Commission, it released the amount in several instalments. This year too WAPDA appears to be following the same strategy as it has released only Rs 4.6 billion so far, Adeel added.
According to the commission's decision, Wapda is required to pay an additional Rs 55 billion which includes 10 percent interest as penalty for delayed payment for the last 5 years. The federal government is the guarantor of this payment and is required to pay in case Wapda fails to meet its obligations. Adeel added that the issue has become too complicated and the government must deal with it in the CCI.
He further stated that the jirga of all political parties held on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution urging the federal government to immediately pay net hydel profit to the provincial government. The resolution noted that KP warranted payment of net hydel profit since 1973 under the Article 161 (2) of the constitution. The federal government had frozen Rs 6 billion net hydel profit of the provincial government since 1992, which was a violation of the rights of the people of the province. The jirga also backed the provincial government to take up the issue on all fora including CCI.
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