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Hubco, Wapda, Govt seem tuned for dialogue

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: It is high time for the trio-Hubco, Wapda and the government Ñ to bury the hatchet once and for all by entering into a meaningful negotiations since all of them have been now cognizant of the worthlessness of prolong and ostensibly endless brawl, industry sources say.

Inside information gathered by Business Recorder hints at seriousness of purpose being on rise among the three. They now want a truce and to open dialogue on purely commercial basis through trilateral dialogue.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, while talking to a group of stock exchange members in Karachi recently, had said that the Hubco problem would be solved on commercial basis Ñ the point, Hubco kept making all along.

Senior officials of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), the IPPs regulator, are also of the same view.

Sources disclosed to Business Recorder that the Hubco realises that it is going to the international arbitration would be of no avail even if it secures a favourable decision. It would only prolong the dispute since Wapda and the government may exercise their rights to challenge the international court verdict in the Supreme Court.

This is a major shift in Hubco's stance, sources said.

Now the stalemate can only be broken by Wapda, which should urge Hubco to sit at the negotiating table giving the company complete tariff proposal which should not only in cents per unit but a detailed one encompassing all components of the fixed costs (capacity payments), sources said.

Sources said that for the talks to be conclusive, the presence of Hubco Chairman Aliraza, an acceptable person for the government and Wapda, was essential.

They further said that Wapda's insistence on its criminal charges against Hubco was its compulsion since these cases provided the utility an edifice to pursue its case for tariff cut.

But, besides sticking to its charges, Wapda should focus on the commercial aspects of the dispute and ensure, at least from its side, that the commercial negotiation should recommence, sources said.

The current two-week recess in the Supreme Court proceedings on arbitration would be a better time to avail of, they said.

The lingering IPP dispute can be resolved only by collective efforts of all three parties Ñ Wapda, the government and Hubco. All parties will have to give some concession to each other for the greater good of the country, and keeping in view Wapda's poor financial health, sources said.

Nevertheless, Wapda should understand that by calling Hubco as 'crooked' unpatriotic party and playing the victim while still demanding tariff concession is an unwise policy and perhaps is the reason why the dispute has not been settled thus far.

Much responsibility rests on Wapda's shoulder now to take initiative to break silence, they said.