Prolonged outages: Job cuts and industry closures become a norm

Industries facing outage of 4 to 6 hours, according to FESCO

FAISALABAD: The tally of job cuts and closure of industries are piling up on a daily basis amid prolonged power outages in the textile hub of the country, according to industrialists.

Demand stood at 1,250 megawatt while only 425 megawatt was being received, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company Technical General Manager Ghazanfar Ali Baloch told the Express Tribune.

In wake of the overall shortage of electricity, a supply of 600 megawatt was agreed upon but even this is not being supplied, said Baloch.

“These circumstances have constrained us to power cut between 4 and 6 hours for industries, 8 to 10 hours for domestic consumers and 12 hours in rural areas,” he added. However, protestors stated that outages in factories increased to 16 hours last week.

Protests against extended power outages that have brought business activities to a standstill will continue until the problem is resolved, Pakistan Textile Exports Association Chairman Rana Arif Tauseef told The Express Tribune.

He added that the federal government should stop discrimination and reduce outages to the same levels of other provinces. He criticised the government for bringing the industry making billions of rupees on the verge of collapse.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited shut down gas for all industries of Punjab in December but it was restored to three days a week after constant pressure from businessmen. Workers of power looms blocked various roads and burnt tires while demanding the government to cut down outages and let them earn their bread and butter.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2012.