IESCO to resolve power woes

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari Saturday said open and hanging electric wires in the markets always pose great danger to the shopkeepers, while fire incidents due to electric short circuit cause losses of millions of rupees to the plaza owners as well as the shopkeepers. Therefore, Iesco should address this issue on priority to save the traders from further losses, according to a press release.

He said 5,000 traders are doing business in the Blue Area, but there have been fire incidents six to seven times due to the short circuit of electricity in this biggest commercial centre of Islamabad, which has caused huge losses to the business community. Therefore, ISCO should develop its infrastructure on modern lines besides improving the wiring system in all markets, he said.

Talking to Abdul Rasheed Sarki, XEN, F-6 Division of Iesco during his visit to ICCI, Bakhtawari said when a transformer burns in a market, there is no backup for it and it takes many days to repair the burnt transformer. Due to this situation, the perishable items get spoiled causing losses to the traders.

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He stressed that Iesco should come up with a better solution to this problem to save the traders from further losses. He said the repair charges of commercial transformers are too high and should be reviewed. He said that the ICCI will nominate market-wise committees for F-6, F-7 and Blue Area to liaison with his office and he should fully cooperate with them for timely solutions of the electricity problems of the traders in their respective areas.

ICCI Senior Vice President Faad Waheed highlighted the issues of MDI meters and net metering faced by the business community and proposed a better solution.

He said the cabinet doors of some transformers are left open which leads to short circuits so ISCO should take steps to address this problem. He said deep freezers, refrigerators and other appliances of traders often get burnt due to fluctuations in electricity voltage, so IESCO should look into this issue for redress.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarki, XEN, Iesco's F-6ix Division, said every possible effort would be made to solve the issues highlighted by the business community.

He said if any person visits markets or shops for inspection, he should be handed over to the police as Iesco has not assigned this responsibility to anyone.

He welcomed the proposal of ICCI for the nomination of market-wise committees to liaison with his office and assured that he would cooperate with the committee members for the early solution of the electricity-related issues of their respective markets.

Former ICCI president and UBG Pakistan Secretary General Zafar Bakhtawari said last year the total revenue of Pakistan was Rs7,500 billion while the total revenue of the electricity companies was PKR 12000 billion but still many electricity companies are incurring losses, which should be a cause of concern the government.

He said IESCO should solve the electricity problems of its customers.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2023.