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Update: 07 Oct 2021 8:56 AM STI
Kabul [Afghanistan], October 7 (ANI): Amid a growing debt crisis, the Afghan electricity body is preparing to sell the assets of its debtors with the aim of paying nearly $ 62 million in bills. electricity to Central Asian countries, media reported on Thursday.
The move comes as reports suggest that the country’s capital, Kabul, may fall into obscurity due to the non-payment of dues from Central Asian electricity providers by the new Taliban leadership.
The Afghan state authority, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), is considering selling the homes of former officials and politicians who have failed to pay electricity bills and have consumed a large amount of electricity, the government reported. Khaama Press news agency.
Safiullah Ahamdzai, the acting chief of DABAS, said they will implement the plan and pay off all debts to prevent exporting countries from cutting electricity.
Electricity imports from neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan account for 80 percent of the country’s electricity consumption.
Daud Noorzai, who has resigned as chief executive of the country’s public authority, DABS, warned the situation could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
“The consequences would be nationwide, but especially in Kabul. There will be a blackout and that would take Afghanistan back to the dark ages when it comes to power and telecommunications,” Noorzai said. . “It would be a really dangerous situation.”
According to the WSJ report, Afghanistan does not have a national electricity grid and Kabul depends almost entirely on imported electricity from Central Asia.
Although electricity is plentiful in Kabul, things could change if suppliers in Central Asia, whose ties to the Taliban deteriorate, decide to cut DABS for non-payment.
Several United Nations agencies and other global organizations have expressed deep concerns about the dire economic situation in the country, which threatens to exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations said on Thursday that it had not received any requests from any entity in Afghanistan to pay utility bills before Kabul faced a massive blackout.
“We have seen these reports in the media,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said at a press briefing on Wednesday. “UNAMA has not received any request from any Afghan entity to make energy payments, which the report cites.” (ANI)
