Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the national power utility, officials in southwestern Faryab province say Taliban militants collect electricity bills from more than 40,000 families in the province where government organs default on around 70 million Afghanis bills.
Electricity is supplied to Maimana city, the provincial capital, and eight districts of the province from Turkmenistan against 3.75 Afghanis a kilowatt.
Sayed Abdul Hamid, DABS head for Faryab, inaugurated five electricity towers in Maimana city. On the occasion, he said there were 62,000 electricity consumers in Maimana and four districts including Pashtonkot, Khwaja Sabzposh, Sherin Tagab and Dawlabad.
He said the bills of 32,000 families went to the government while of 30,000 other consumers went to militants.
Hamid said electricity consumers owed around 100 million Afghanis to DABS in unpaid bills, with security organs belonging to the ministries of interior and defense as well as department of Islamic and Hajj affairs owing 55 million Afghanis.
“Some people steal electricity by using hooks and three such people were arrested by security forces a day earlier”, he said.
About inauguration of five electricity control towers, he said local people had provided the cost of land and surrounding wall for the towers but transformers and other equipment were provided by DABS. He said more than 2,000 families would receive stable power with the project.
Electricity consumers were satisfied with DABS services and said they voluntarily allocated the land for the towers and gave costs of their surrounding walls.
Eng. Mohammad Anwar, commercial in charge of DABS in Andkhoi district of Faryab, said that Taliban collected electricity bills from 9,000 consumers out of total 22,000.
He said local strongmen, commanders and some businessmen defaulted on power bills amounting to four million Afghanis in the province.
However, the Taliban did not comment in this regard.
