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By Editorial
Published: May 30, 2014
We need not remind Prime Minister that the people of Pakistan elected him for one reason and one reason alone
At best, the federal government is utterly and absolutely clueless as to the real causes of what ails the energy sector in Pakistan. At worst, they are criminally negligent and choose to ignore the true disease and instead go for quick fixes that they think will patch up the system. The latest display of short-sighted policy came with the decision to deduct a portion of the provincial governments’ bills from their share of federal revenues.
On the surface, this sounds like a good policy. Provincial governments, particularly that of Sindh, are some of the biggest defaulters on their electricity bills and the federal government using its power of the purse to force them to pay sounds like a good idea. But the matter is not quite so simple.
The federally-owned power distribution companies often do a horrendous job at ensuring that people and businesses within their jurisdictions pay their electricity bills. And they are also under a lot of pressure from the water and power ministry to crack down on that theft. The provincial governments allege, and not without reason, that these federally-owned entities often load up the bills of provincial government departments with the usage from other non-paying entities. In other words, the theft is covered up by alleging that the provincial government owes more in electricity bills than it used.
Given the amount at stake — about Rs90 billion at the latest count — it is astounding that this allegation has yet to be investigated. But if this allegation is true, then making the provincial governments pay for electricity that they have not used is tantamount to making the taxpayer foot the bill for thieves.
But, perhaps, we should not be surprised that Islamabad wants to make taxpayers pay for thieves when the Nawaz Administration has already announced the explicit policy of forcing honest customers to pay for the losses racked up by the power companies owing to their inability to crack down against those who steal electricity. It seems that the official energy policy of this administration is that everyone will be forced to share in the pain, except those who are actually causing the losses.
We cannot even begin to articulate our outrage at this travesty masquerading as policy. The message being sent to the Pakistani people seems to be that they are better off being among those who steal and plunder rather than being among those who honestly pay their fair share — whether it be electricity bills or taxes. Does the prime minister honestly think that he has any hope of solving the energy crisis that he promised he would fix in this manner?
We need not remind Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that, while he may have run on a platform with many points on his policy agenda, the people of Pakistan elected him for one reason and one reason alone: he promised that he would be able to fix the energy crisis. But given the way he is proceeding right now, he is on track to fail in keeping that promise.
The administration has not addressed even one root cause of the power outages and instead, has become fascinated with cosmetic measures that appear flashy and impressive but will do nothing to actually solve the problem. New power plants are impressive and necessary, but a lack of power plants is not why the lights go out so frequently all over Pakistan. The reason for the power outages is two-fold: far too many people in the country do not pay for the electricity that they use, and too much of the electricity that is generated uses expensive fuels.
None of those problems are being addressed by anything the administration has done so far. And if they continue to ignore those root causes, the PML-N will find itself as mercilessly thrown out of office as their predecessors.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.
Published: May 30, 2014
We need not remind Prime Minister that the people of Pakistan elected him for one reason and one reason alone
At best, the federal government is utterly and absolutely clueless as to the real causes of what ails the energy sector in Pakistan. At worst, they are criminally negligent and choose to ignore the true disease and instead go for quick fixes that they think will patch up the system. The latest display of short-sighted policy came with the decision to deduct a portion of the provincial governments’ bills from their share of federal revenues.
On the surface, this sounds like a good policy. Provincial governments, particularly that of Sindh, are some of the biggest defaulters on their electricity bills and the federal government using its power of the purse to force them to pay sounds like a good idea. But the matter is not quite so simple.
The federally-owned power distribution companies often do a horrendous job at ensuring that people and businesses within their jurisdictions pay their electricity bills. And they are also under a lot of pressure from the water and power ministry to crack down on that theft. The provincial governments allege, and not without reason, that these federally-owned entities often load up the bills of provincial government departments with the usage from other non-paying entities. In other words, the theft is covered up by alleging that the provincial government owes more in electricity bills than it used.
Given the amount at stake — about Rs90 billion at the latest count — it is astounding that this allegation has yet to be investigated. But if this allegation is true, then making the provincial governments pay for electricity that they have not used is tantamount to making the taxpayer foot the bill for thieves.
But, perhaps, we should not be surprised that Islamabad wants to make taxpayers pay for thieves when the Nawaz Administration has already announced the explicit policy of forcing honest customers to pay for the losses racked up by the power companies owing to their inability to crack down against those who steal electricity. It seems that the official energy policy of this administration is that everyone will be forced to share in the pain, except those who are actually causing the losses.
We cannot even begin to articulate our outrage at this travesty masquerading as policy. The message being sent to the Pakistani people seems to be that they are better off being among those who steal and plunder rather than being among those who honestly pay their fair share — whether it be electricity bills or taxes. Does the prime minister honestly think that he has any hope of solving the energy crisis that he promised he would fix in this manner?
We need not remind Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that, while he may have run on a platform with many points on his policy agenda, the people of Pakistan elected him for one reason and one reason alone: he promised that he would be able to fix the energy crisis. But given the way he is proceeding right now, he is on track to fail in keeping that promise.
The administration has not addressed even one root cause of the power outages and instead, has become fascinated with cosmetic measures that appear flashy and impressive but will do nothing to actually solve the problem. New power plants are impressive and necessary, but a lack of power plants is not why the lights go out so frequently all over Pakistan. The reason for the power outages is two-fold: far too many people in the country do not pay for the electricity that they use, and too much of the electricity that is generated uses expensive fuels.
None of those problems are being addressed by anything the administration has done so far. And if they continue to ignore those root causes, the PML-N will find itself as mercilessly thrown out of office as their predecessors.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.
