Replying to a question, he said the two Sindh-based Discos have held detailed meetings with the representatives of Sindh's Energy Department wherein a formula of 60:40 was agreed between the parties, which implies that province will pay 60 per cent of the total receivables and the Discos will write off 40 per cent receivables. However, lately the provincial government began to drag its feet and appeared to be unwilling to honour its commitment.
Earlier, briefing a parliamentary panel headed by Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Akhtar Ali Randhawa said that the Sindh government had expressed its willingness to pay 60 per cent of total receivables from July 2011 to January 2016 whereas 40 per cent due amount will be waived off.
He, however, acknowledged that in the past, massive over-billing was reported and at the same time departments like the Police are receiving electricity without any meters.
Randhawa faced criticism from the parliamentary panel including ruling party's MNA Dr Nisar Ahmad Jatt for preferring Punjabi over Sindhi officers with several senior Sindhi officers ousted for poor performance.
Additional Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Omar Rasool maintained that the government is making an effort to provide opportunities to trained human resources to work across Pakistan. He added that Pepco has sent several experienced officers from Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) and Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) to Sepco aimed at improving the system and recoveries. Rasool also assured the panel that there would be no ethnic considerations in the transfers and postings in Sindh-based Discos.
Nisar Jatt a read out charge sheet against the incumbent CEO Hesco who owes his position to Water and Power Ministry.
"CEO is performing well and now the thieves and their accomplices are making a hue and cry," said an official on condition of anonymity.
Omar Rasool responded that the government's main focus was to fill the gap between energy supply and demand by 2018. He maintained that the shortfall of 5000-6000 MW will be bridged through a new generation which is expected to be injected into the system by the end of 2017 or middle of 2018.
He further maintained that the real challenge for the government is to improve the performance of Discos, adding that the performance of both Hesco and Sepco was very poor.
The convenor of the parliamentary panel, Yousuf Talpur, raised questions on the performance of incumbent CEO Hesco.
Akhtar Ali Randhawa replied that with the measures he took cash recovery of Hesco improved by 19 per cent while losses declined by 10 per cent.
"We have showed real recovery in the documents whereas in the past bogus recovery and billing figurers were presented to the federal government," he added.
MQM's Syed Waseem Hussain, Member National Assembly from Hyderabad, acknowledged the efforts of the incumbent CEO in improving Hesco's system but he urged a more focused approach in resolving the issues of the people of Hyderabad.
Nawab Yousuf Talpur and Syed Kazim Ali Shah raised the issues of electricity in their respective constituencies, in addition to seeking domiciles of recently appointed employees on the basis of sports.