Though a number of top-level changes are taking place in the Ministry of Water and Power and attached departments after Khawaja Muhammad Asif assumed the charge of Minister for Water and Power, yet no one is aware of who is actually issuing these directives.
Secretary Water and Power Anwar Khan was removed a day before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was due to visit 84 MW run-of-the river New Bong Escape Hydropower Project near Mirpur (Azad Kashmir) and Ministry officials were baffled as to the reasons for his removal or the driving force behind his “summary removal.”
Ministry officials are only aware that Anwar Khan had sought one month leave to visit Australia to attend his offspring”s graduation ceremony. On Monday, Anwar Khan visited the Ministry for a short duration and relinquished charge. The Ministry has also removed Acting Managing Director, Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), N. A. Zuberi who had been working at this position for the last three years. He has been sent back to the position of Executive Director. The position of Managing Director has already been advertised. For the time being, Acting Secretary Water and Power Saif Chattha has been given the additional charge of MD PPIB.
The sources said, CEO, Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), Mehboob Alam, CEO, Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Muhammad Saleem and CEO Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Muzaffar Abbasi have been replaced but the Ministry officials remain unaware of who is issuing instructions and through whom? Alam has been accused of writing off billions of rupees of legitimate electricity bills pending against the government of Sindh.
“I guess things have been centralised in the Prime Minister”s office from where instructions are being issued without informing the Ministry,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Prime Minister”s Special Advisor on Energy Dr Musaddak Malik sits in the Prime Minister”s office, but it is unclear if he has any role in these changes. Legal minds maintain that the CEOs can be removed only after the approval of the Board of Directors (BoDs) and in the instant case BoDs were never consulted.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Board of Directors (BoD) of all Discos are also being replaced as most of the members of the incumbent board were appointed on the basis of their political influence and failed to improve the performance of the respective companies. Business Recorder, 2013