Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the country’s power utility company, said Wednesday ex-officials of the former government and state institutions owe 13 billion afghanis (AFN) in unpaid electricity debt.
Head of DABS has warned the ex-officials that if they do not pay the electricity consumption fee, their houses and assets will be seized.
Last year, DABS announced that it had collected $681 million dollars in debt from former officials and commercial and industrial companies.
Head of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), Abdul Bari Omar, said on Tuesday that the utility company pays for their imported power on the 27th and 28th of every month.
According to Omar, the company is up-to-date on its payments.
Last year, DABS’s spokesperson said the company had settled debt totalling $627 million that had been carried over from the former government.
This money was paid to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Iran.
Omar stated that in the last three months, energy production projects worth $400 million have been put into operation and other projects are on the agenda.
According to him, these projects include wind, gas, coal and solar energy initiatives.
On the Kajaki dam in Helmand, he said the dam will be able to produce 150 megawatts of electricity within the next year.
While efforts are being made to increase electricity production, Afghans continue to struggle with little or no power.
At present, 950 megawatts of electricity is consumed annually in the country, of which just over 300 megawatts is produced domestically and the balance is imported from neighboring countries.