FAISALABAD:
Unscheduled outages in the region have forced closure of almost all small industrial units and rendered over 100,000 workers jobless.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, Sizing Mills Association Chairman Mirza Shafique and Council of Power Loom Owners Chairman Waheed Ramay expressed resentment over the issue, saying that up to 12 hours of daily outages in the Faisalabad region was hurting industry, while up to 20 hours of outages in rural areas had rendered several factories inoperative.
Industry officials blamed Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) functionaries for not being able to cope with the situation arising out of the electricity shortage, adding that inefficiency in planning and load management had not helped reduce power cuts.
They threatened launching a campaign against the unannounced outages if the issue was not addressed. Owners and workers of power looms and sizing units have already staged a protest rally at the Fesco headquarters and warned of an increase in the scale of protest if a reduction in outages is not announced.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2011.
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