The chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, as well as former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain, on Wednesday said that the risk of confrontation between the public and electricity companies is increasing due to inflated bills. He said that people now have to pay electricity bills that exceed their income, leading to quarrels in their homes.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that inflated bills are breaking relationships and causing people to shed blood. Speaking to the business community, the veteran business leader claimed that capacity payments are penalising the general public and the industrial sector.
He warned that public anxiety and agitation could sometimes spiral out of control, so the government should act quickly to stabilise the situation.
The business leader stated that the elites and the government own 80 percent of the IPPs established in the country, receiving far more in dollars than their rightful share.
He warned that this plunder of resources should end; otherwise, the country would plunge into lawlessness and soon become bankrupt.
Mian Zahid Hussain said the government can do much in this regard. The Prime Minister has also issued directives to lower the cost of electricity for industries. Yet, a permanent solution to the losses and capacity payments in the electricity sector remains unattainable.
He stressed that the government’s non-developmental expenditures are skyrocketing, making it impossible to fool the people as they perceive everything.
According to Mian Zahid Hussain, the power tariff has been reduced in some areas following violent incidents, implying that those living in other areas should also resort to violence for relief.
According to Mian Zahid Hussain, forty percent of people have already fallen below the poverty line, and more are falling below it. Suppose the government fails to correct the economy’s direction and arrange a fair distribution of wealth. In that case, it will impact the people and the upper classes, who will struggle with insufficient resources for their princely lifestyle.
Mian Zahid Hussain added, “If the IPPs agreement was not a mistake, why is the country and nation suffering a loss of two thousand billion rupees annually, and why is this money only reaching a few people?”
He stated that it’s crucial to conduct a forensic audit of IPPs, noting that some individuals have profited greatly from the looting and that it’s now time to end it.
