The CEO of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), Arif Khan Sadozai, has promised industrialists that the power supply to industrial facilities that had been turned off will be restored after meeting legal requirements. Speaking to a gathering of industrialists from the Provincial Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce (FPCCI)’s regional headquarters, he declared, “Whatever relief available under the law will be offered to them.” Progress on the industrialists’ proposals will be made after thorough discussions, he continued.

During the meeting, Regional Coordinator FPCCI Sartaj Ahmad Khan and Malakand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Mohammad Shoaib Khan informed the PESCO chief about the difficulties PATA’s industrialists were experiencing as a result of the energy being cut off to their facilities. Additionally, they criticised the charge of sales tax for the previous 60 months, amounting to millions of rupees in a single payment, and demanded that it be paid back in 60 equal payments.

Arif Sadozai responded to the requests of industrialists by stating that he would never want to stand in the way of industrial growth and would conduct talks with them to find answers to their issues. He promised to reconnect the electricity to industrial units whose power had been cut off because they had not paid their utility bills. But they would need to adhere to all legal obligations, he added.

The Federal Board of Revenue has jurisdiction over the collection of taxes and their elimination, according to the PESCO chief. However, following consultation with both parties, electrical bills will be collected in instalments. The PESCO head was informed by FPCCI that vital communities, including Bradaam, Ashriat, and Arundu, continue to lack access to energy. In order to prepare a report on how to provide power to those locations, the PESCO head instructed his staff to tour those places jointly.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk