Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The opposition has strongly protested in National Assembly against the instruction to charge more money from electricity users for security of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The opposition, during a session of the lower house of Parliament said that the government should avoid putting a greater burden on the people in the name of security of CPEC project as the nation is already under the burden of heavy taxation.

While responding to the notice from PPP’s MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Nafeesa Shah, State Minister Abid Sher Ali said that imposing taxes for security of power projects was not a new thing. Earlier, tax was imposed for the security of IPPs which is being imposed every three years. He said that fixing the tariff is the responsibility of NEPRA.

Shazia Mari asked the government to inform the National Assembly regarding all the facts of the matter, saying the government should tell people how much it will collect from their pockets and for how long the sum will be gathered. She said that the power consumers are already paying circular debt.

It is pertinent to mention here that government has decided to take the extra money from the people on account of expenditures incurred on the security and safety of CPEC. One percent of the total cost of CPEC project would be spenton its security. Government has devised a plan to deploy thousands of security personnel for the safety of the project and their salaries would be taken from the public.