Pakistan cuts off president in power bill crackdown

[Windjammer]

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Tuesday cut off the electricity supply to several major official buildings for non-payment of bills, including parliament, the prime minister's offices and the president's official residence.

Minister for water and power Abid Sher Ali announced an "indiscriminate drive" to recover unpaid bills and warned that all offices and customers who had defaulted would be cut off.

"I have issued orders that the electricity supply to Parliament Lodges, Parliament House and President's Secretariat should be disconnected immediately for non-payment of millions of rupees of bills," he said.

The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad's civic agency which is responsible for paying government offices' bills, owes the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) 2.36 billion rupees ($24 million).

The President's Secretariat, which is the head of state's office and residence, owes 28 million rupees, while lawmakers' residential block, Parliament Lodges, had to pay 20 million rupees to IESCO, he added.

Power company officials said that electricity supply to more than 100 government offices had been disconnected over non-payment of bills.

Solving Pakistan's energy crisis was a key campaign pledge for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the runup to the 2013 general election.

But the daily power cuts, known euphemistically as "load-shedding", have already begun this year, even though there is still at least a month to go before the height of summer, when temperatures in some places top 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The disconnections were not limited to electricity. The state-run gas company also disconnected the natural gas supply to the prime minister's offices.

Pakistan cuts off president in power bill crackdown

 

[Dubious]

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Tuesday cut off the electricity supply to several major official buildings for non-payment of bills, including parliament, the prime minister's offices and the president's official residence.

Minister for water and power Abid Sher Ali announced an "indiscriminate drive" to recover unpaid bills and warned that all offices and customers who had defaulted would be cut off.

"I have issued orders that the electricity supply to Parliament Lodges, Parliament House and President's Secretariat should be disconnected immediately for non-payment of millions of rupees of bills," he said.

The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad's civic agency which is responsible for paying government offices' bills, owes the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) 2.36 billion rupees ($24 million).

The President's Secretariat, which is the head of state's office and residence, owes 28 million rupees, while lawmakers' residential block, Parliament Lodges, had to pay 20 million rupees to IESCO, he added.

Power company officials said that electricity supply to more than 100 government offices had been disconnected over non-payment of bills.

Solving Pakistan's energy crisis was a key campaign pledge for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the runup to the 2013 general election.

But the daily power cuts, known euphemistically as "load-shedding", have already begun this year, even though there is still at least a month to go before the height of summer, when temperatures in some places top 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The disconnections were not limited to electricity. The state-run gas company also disconnected the natural gas supply to the prime minister's offices.

Pakistan cuts off president in power bill crackdown

You are late...already had 2 more such threads

 

[Missile]

Loo g dhae blay ki factory hi band kara de. Not good very bad.

 

[VCheng]

So what? They will get generated electricity at extra cost to the nation. This is just a political stunt.

 

[Dubious]

So what? They will get generated electricity at extra cost to the nation. This is just a political stunt.

someone already suggested (in the other thread) they also get no fuel to use generator...

 

[Windjammer]

You are late...already had 2 more such threads

I saw only one related to the gas supply being turned off, which in my opinion is a useless exercise since most Pakistani politicians are full of it.

 

[Dubious]

I saw only one related to the gas supply being turned off, which in my opinion is a useless exercise since most Pakistani politicians are full of it.

good one!

We should open a free CNG station at the parliament house

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

this has never happened before has it?

great step forward if true....if the top echelon get punished, those below will think again before being delinquent

 

[xyxmt]

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Tuesday cut off the electricity supply to several major official buildings for non-payment of bills, including parliament, the prime minister's offices and the president's official residence.

Minister for water and power Abid Sher Ali announced an "indiscriminate drive" to recover unpaid bills and warned that all offices and customers who had defaulted would be cut off.

"I have issued orders that the electricity supply to Parliament Lodges, Parliament House and President's Secretariat should be disconnected immediately for non-payment of millions of rupees of bills," he said.

The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad's civic agency which is responsible for paying government offices' bills, owes the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) 2.36 billion rupees ($24 million).

The President's Secretariat, which is the head of state's office and residence, owes 28 million rupees, while lawmakers' residential block, Parliament Lodges, had to pay 20 million rupees to IESCO, he added.

Power company officials said that electricity supply to more than 100 government offices had been disconnected over non-payment of bills.

Solving Pakistan's energy crisis was a key campaign pledge for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the runup to the 2013 general election.

But the daily power cuts, known euphemistically as "load-shedding", have already begun this year, even though there is still at least a month to go before the height of summer, when temperatures in some places top 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The disconnections were not limited to electricity. The state-run gas company also disconnected the natural gas supply to the prime minister's offices.

Pakistan cuts off president in power bill crackdown

sher ka Bacha, thats how we do it in the jungle!

 

[Pakistanisage]

Good move. We can't ask ordinary Pakistanis to pay their Electric and Gas bills and the big Kahunas ignore those bills.

 

[Dubious]

Power restored to Pakistan PM office in bills crackdown

Pakistan's parliament building in Islamabad was among the government buildings disconnected

The electricity and gas were cut off after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered a crackdown against defaulters.

Other government buildings including parliament and the PM's residence were also affected, reports say.

Correspondents say non-payment of bills is a big issue in Pakistan, with millions of dollars outstanding.

Blackouts are nothing new in Pakistan because of chronic power shortages and many people are forced to go without electricity for some 12 hours a day.

'Positive message'
Gas company officials said the PM's office had not paid its bill for the past six months, and after repeated reminders they disconnected supplies on Sunday evening.

The residence and office of Mr Sharif was said to be 4.7m rupees ($48,000, £28,000) in arrears on its gas bills, reports Dunya News TV.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in the UK at the time of the power cuts



Mr Sharif promised to fix Pakistan's energy crisis as part of his 2013 election campaign.

Government buildings were disconnected a week after he ordered a clampdown on customers who defaulted on their payments.

The prime minister was personally unaffected by the cuts, as he was in the UK on an official trip, reports the BBC's Shumaila Jaffery in Islamabad.

But his staff have been sweating without air conditioning for two days.

Mohiuddin Wani, the PM's press secretary, told the BBC that the move had sent a positive message that nobody was above the law.

But some have accused the government of a political gimmick, to show that the prime minister is a law-abiding person, our correspondent adds.

The lights were switched back on when the payments started coming in, said Muhammad Ismaeel, spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Water and Power.

BBC News - Power restored to Pakistan PM office in bills crackdown

Just 2 days?!