MAZAR-I-SHARIF (SW) – Hundreds of Balkh residents took to the streets in Mazar-e-Sharif city on Tuesday against high tariff of electricity.
The protesters warned to cut main transmission line to Kabul if tariff per kilowatt in Balkh is not reduced from AFN 6.25 to AFN 2.5. The protesters also warned not to pay their electricity bills if their demands are not met.
The agitating protesters closed down the Da Afghanistan Breshna Shirkat (DABS), the power utility, office in the city.
Mirwais, one of the protesters, said he is a government employee earning a monthly salary of AFN 6000, but half of it goes to paying the electricity bill. Bawar Bamek and Noorya Najafizada, two members of the local civil society, said on the occasion that the protest drive would be expanded if the demands are not met.
Meanwhile, head of DABS in Balkh, Hameedullah Hameed, said the tariff is set by the presidency, and soon it would be reduced.
Residents in Balkh pay AFN 6.25 per unit while industrial units pay AFN 6.75 and commercial consumers pay AFN 16.75 per unity.
This is not the first time residents in Balkh have protested against DABS.
ENDS
