LANDIKOTAL:TheNationalAccountability Bureau (NAB) in collaboration with Tribal Areas Electricity Supply Company (Tesco) disconnected power supply to more than 100 marble factories in Malagori area of Khyber Agency.

The owners of the factories told Dawn that the disconnection drive was started in the beginning of August with NAB officials telling them that they were required to pay power bills to tune of millions of rupees.

The total number of marble factories in Malagori is said to be 220. About half of these factories were allowed to operate for a monthas per an understanding reached with local officials of Tesco to ensure continuous supply of electricity to the operational units.

The factory owners said that the arrangement for running their marble units one after another for a month was made with the Tesco authorities owing to low voltage of electricity, which could take the load of all 220 units at a time.

Mir Nawaz Malagori, a marble factory owner, said that all of them regularly paid their monthly power bills as they possessed the receipts of all the payment deposited in a local bank.

He said that no factory in Malagori area had ever defaulted on electricity bills but at times they were issued bills of the months during which they were not operational owing to the agreed `power saving formula`.

Haji Manan, a local elder, claimed that NAB was not allowed to take action against defaulters in tribal areas. `NAB`s action of disconnecting power supply to marble units is totally unlawful and we reserve the right to take upthe matter with political administration,` he added.

The elder said that all the marble units were exempted from all types of taxes according to an agreement signed with political administration in mid nineties. Zahid Khan, another local resident, said that nearly 5,000 workers would be rendered jobless after closure of 110 units under `power saving formula` and disconnection of power supply to the remaining 110 units.

He said that factory owners were at the risk of incurring monetary loses along with losing their customers and fresh orders from across the country. He said that Malagori white marble was famous throughout Pakistan and had a sizable number of buyers in almost all major cities of the country.

`The supply of this precious stone can be seriously affected if power supply is not restored forthwith,` said Zahid Khan.

Meanwhile, the local organisation of marble factories has convened an emergency meeting to review the situation and chalk out future plan of action.