(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) (Pajhwok): Da Breshna Shirkat (DABS) on Sunday talked about the immanent financial crisis of the power utility and said the donors have linked future assistance to the resolution of problems with neighbouring countries.
The Meshrano Jira or upper house of the parliament today summoned DABS Head Amanullah Ghaleb to brief the house about alleged corruption allegation, continuous power outage and financial condition of the power utility.
Ghaleb said 850 big and small development projects were underway from the past few years. DABS was now giving priority to those projects which are 80 percent completed.
'The donors are not ready to help us in the electricity generation projects. They are ready to provide us with power supply cables, sub-stations and pylon but when it comes to the power generation they say go resolve your problems with your neighbours,' he said.
Without naming the donors, Ghaleb said: 'We don't know why our donors do not want to see us self-sufficient in power generation.'
Currently, 80 percent electricity being consumed in the country was imported from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Ghaleb, however, said DABS had launched work on some small power generation projects such the solar power projects through which the electricity shortage in Kabul would be resolved.
Regarding the recent Bank (WB) report, Ghaleb said the issue had been discussed with government leadership and he demanded the arrangement of special meeting of the High Economic Council.
WB has warned against the bankruptcy of power utility in 2018 if necessary reforms failed to implemented, the amount government institutions and private sector owed to the power utility hasn't paid and the finance ministry stops taking profit.
Talking about the financial crisis of the power utility, he said DABS was neither profiting nor losing.
Ghaleb said the existing power generation could not meet the demand. He said no surge had been noticed in the supply of imported electricity while daily 350 to 250 electricity meters were being distributed to people in Kabul.
He pledged to decline the power outage in capital Kabul. Currently the residents of Kabul supplied electricity for 10 to 12 hours.
The Mesharano members asked Ghaleb to provide the house with the list of individual who has owed to DABS. In reply he said making the list public would not resolve the problem, adding that if someone really wanted to access the list they should refer to Pajhwok Afghan News.
The Breshna Shirkat officials have already shared the list of 73 individuals who did not paid their electricity due.
Waheed Tawhidi, the DABS spokesman, then said that state institutions owed 1.6 billion afghanis and some government figures and powerful individuals owed 700 million in their unpaid electricity bills.
Earlier, the Joint Anti-Corruption and Evaluation Committee (MEC) claimed Corruption was still massively rife in DABS.
MEC said since 2002 up to date 220 billion afghanis had been provided to the electricity sector of the country, of which 12.5 billion afghanis had been acknowledged by DABS.
However billion of afghanis had been missing and the company was unaware about it, he said.
Ghaleb said most electricity projects in the country were supported and executed by foreigners and DABS was only monitoring them.
Regarding the claim that the were collected electricity bills in parts of Kunduz and Helmand province, Ghaleb said his institution was unable to collect electricity bills some areas of five provinces.
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