LAHORE: Protest demonstrations against the fuel price adjustment (FPA) and other taxes on the electricity bills that shocked most of the consumers this month continued in Lahore and other cities of the province on Tuesday.

The protesters burnt the electricity bills during the demonstrations and pledged not to deposit the payments until immediate withdrawal of the FPA and other taxes and issuance of new bills to them by the power distribution comp anies.

They gathered at various places in Lahore while the local PTI leadersjoined some of the protests and criticised the federal government for crushing the people under the huge power bills.

`Do whatever you want as we will not pay the bills till withdrawal of FPA charges and other unnecessary taxes.

This all (FPA, taxes etc) has doubled our bills, making us unable to pay,` an angry protester said at a demonstration on the Abbott Road.

Punjab Minister for Energy Dr Akhtar Malik also joined a protest reportedly at Manga Mandi.

`This government is killing the poor people by imposing heavy taxes that we will not bear at all,` he announced while speaking on the occasion.

The consumers, including women and children, were of the view that the inflated bills had disturbed their routine life.

`If we pay these bills, it means we have nothing to spend for day-to-day affairs of our home,` said a protesterwho added that the situation was worse for those living in rented houses.

The protesters also reached theQueens Road and staged demonstrations outside the offices of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco).They demanded the government withdraw the FPA and other major taxes includedin the bills.

A number of protesters also gathered at anintersecdon in the area of Wali Park (Fatehgarh) near Tajpura.

They burnt the bills.

`We are using less electricity and only run fans and fewer bulbs but we have received bills of more than Rs20,000. A major chunk of the bill along with electricity cost is the FPA and the GST that we will not pay,` said a protester while talking to the media.

`Since we are already hardly fulfilling our food needs, how can we pay such huge bills? Those earning Rs30,000 per month have received bills of Rs15,000 and above. In such a situation, how these consumers can pay the massive bills?` another protester asked.

The demonstrators warned the government to either withdraw the FPA, taxes etc or be ready to face more pro-tests.

SAHIWAL: Hundreds of farmers, shopkeepers, small traders, citizens and daily-wage labourers held a protest near village Bunga Hayat on the Multan-Kasur Road against, what they termed, the unfair surcharges in the electricity bills and blocked the road for two hours for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

The protesters were carrying placards and electricity bills as they raised charged slogans against the federal government and the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco). Many of them tore electricity bills and some burnt them, in a gesture to refuse to pay the bills. They termed the induction of huge fuel price adjustment (FPA) surcharges in the name of `adjustment` unfair, which were beyond the capacity of ordinary electricity customers. The protesters also burnt tyres and stopped the traf fic for all public and private vehicles for two hours.

Muhammad Jameel, a resident of Bangla Hayat, told the media, `I earn Rs800 to Rs1,000 as a daily-wage labourer, how can I pay Rs12,000 billsinwhich55pcisadjustedastheFPAcharges.

He asked whether he should buy groceries and pay the fees for his children`s school or submit a huge bill.

The protesters expressed the resolve that they won`t pay electricity bills because of huge taxes. The protesters said if the government won`t withdraw taxes on electricity bills, they would not pay any bills at all. They dispersed after two hours.

TOBA TEK SINGH: Hundreds of citizens blocked the Gojra-Jhang Road near DhammaCanal rest house by setting tyres ablaze and staging a demonstration against the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) over high tariff electricity bills. They also blocked the M-4 interchange.

PTI leader Usama Hamza also reached there to express solidarity with the protesters.

In his speech,he announcedif the raised tariff was not withdrawn, the consumers wouldbesiege the Fesco office on a daily basis.

MUZAFFARGARH: Jamaat-iIslami emir Sirajul Haq says the rulers are engaged in personal quarrels and the president, the prime minister and the chief ministers have no time to visit the flood-affected areas.

`Under pressure from theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), huge bills are being collected by imposing 11 types of taxes on electricity bills. If the taxes on electricity bills are not abolished, the JI would besiege Mepco of fice in Multan af ter a week,` he said.

Mr Haq was addressing a sit-in of the JI held in front of the Muzaffargarh Press Club against the taxes and inflated electricity bills.