T HE recent massive electricity loadsheddingacrossthe country speak volumes of inef ficiency, incompetence, mismanagement and bad governance in acountry where there is excess power generation capacity to the tune of 35,000MW, which is almost double the power demand.

Twenty-seven power plants are said to be non-functional on one pretext or the other. For some, fuel could not been arranged at the right time, while others are shut down due to technical breakdowns or faults.

In either case, it is the result of gross mismanagement, incompetence and bad governance, and is unpardonable. In good old times, if a fault would develop in a power plant, maintenance engineers would not go home until the fault was rectified and the affected generating units were brought back online in the minimum possible time.

The excuse that hydel generation is low is not maintainable as it is an annual feature during low-water months and the energy shortf all needs are to be met by thermal plants. There is no doubt that the power sector is in the doldrums and has been mishandled for quite long, resulting in administrative, technical, professional and financial bankruptcy.

It is a big challenge for the government to streamline the daunting affairs of the power sector and its allied organisations, which have been accumulated over the years. It is not a matter of weeks or months to address the multifarious problems.

In any case, a thorough overhaul of the power system is mandatory through the right people who are well-versed and capable of solving problems of such multitude in the mismanaged power sector which is the backbone of any economy.

We need to have a short-term policy to give relief to the hapless consumers from the effects ofloadshedding,and a long-term comprehensive policy to aim at providing reliable and affordable power to the people, industry, commerce and agriculture sectors.

Riaz Bhutta Islamabad