Opinion: Electricity Generators, Again

Despite the summer heat, the ministry of electricity is still promising things will get better. But people have grown tired of such pledges; they have seen no improvement in electricity supplies. The reverse is the case – people can see things are deteriorating even though officials do their best to justify the long hours of power cuts. The owners of the electricity generators on which people are entirely dependent are now hiking prices per unit used and reducing the hours of operation. They too cite the same weak arguments of poor-quality fuel and shortages of spare parts. The people are now between the hammer of the power ministry and the anvil of the generator owners. They are looking for prompt action to resolve this crisis and save them from the greed of the generator owners. The only solution is to form a committee drawn from the ministries of oil and electricity and the provincial councils to survey the use of generators and to provide private owners with subsidised fuel and lubrication oils, in return for them agreeing not to set prices that burden the public. Anyone who breaks the agreement should be punished with a hefty fine.