MINGORA: Condemning the federal government’s decision to recover electricity bill remissions earlier announced for flood-affected residents of Swat district, the Awami National Party (ANP on Wednesday termed the move a “cruel and insulting joke” for people still struggling to rebuild their lives.
In a press statement issued, Ziaul Haq Nasir, spokesperson for ANP in Swat, said that following the devastating floods of August 15, the federal government had officially announced a waiver on electricity bills for affected areas. However, residents have now received new electricity bills in which the previously waived amounts have been re-added as arrears or additional charges.
“This reversal is not only clumsy but deeply humiliating for a population already battered by a natural disaster,” said Nasir. “Retracting a promised relief package is a blatant breach of trust and amounts to rubbing salt into the wounds of the poor,” he added.
He pointed out that commercial consumers, particularly shopkeepers and hotel owners, are bearing the brunt of the decision. “Swat’s economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism, remains fragile due to flood damage and severely deteriorated road infrastructure,” he added.
“The provincial government has offered nothing beyond hollow claims, while the federal government’s so-called relief has been exposed as a political gimmick,” Nasir said, adding, “What was presented as assistance is now being quietly recovered through installments.”
The ANP spokesperson warned that public frustration was rapidly intensifying, with traders and ordinary citizens expressing strong resentment over what they describe as deceptive billing practices.
He announced that the Awami National Party has initiated high-level consultations with local political parties and trader unions to launch a joint protest movement against the decision.“The federal and provincial governments must stop passing the buck and immediately provide genuine and permanent relief to flood-affected families,” Nasir demanded.
Reaffirming the party’s stance, he said the ANP would continue to stand with the people of Swat and resist any policy that further burdens an economy already weakened by natural calamities.
