M. Irshadullah Khan
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders on Monday denounced the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) for prolonged power outages in the province, and warned that legal action would be initiated against the company.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, MNA Arbab Sher Ali, MNA Shandana Gulzar and MPA Fazal Elahi criticized PESCO for increasing loadshedding duration from 12 hours to 22 hours despite the province’s substantial contribution to the national grid.
“Our feeder has generated 21 billion revenue yet people still face loadshedding,” MNA Sher Ali said, expressing outrage at PESCO’s decision to file a case against him for inaugurating the Tehkal grid station.
“If I had set the grid station on fire, CCTV footage would have been released,” he said, threatening to send a defamation notice to PESCO if the case was not withdrawn.
MNA Shandana Gulzar condemned the federal government’s electricity agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), stating that they burdened the poor public. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produces the most electricity, yet we face 22 hours of loadshedding,” she said.
MPA Fazal Elahi alleged that the federal government had ordered PESCO not to supply electricity to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He demanded that PESCO officials should be expelled from the province, and requested the chief minister for such an action.
When asked about rifts within the party, MNA Sher Ali dismissed it as rumors, saying PTI members were united and stood with Imran Khan’s vision despite challenges.
He announced that he would meet the PESCO chairman and write a letter to the Federal Minister for Energy and Power Awais Ahmed Kahn Leghari to address the loadshedding issue.
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