Power cuts: Traders hold meeting to express outrage over outage
Warn of grave economic consequences if electricity woes are not addressed.
A jeweller lights candles with his blowtorch. Power outages have spanned a record 16 to 18 hours in the rural areas. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
Traders and businessmen across the province came together for a huddle on Tuesday following the recent country-wide power outage which fuelled the business community’s outrage over losses suffered on account of frequent load-shedding.
All the major cities of the country plunged into darkness Sunday night as the Uch power plant dropped below 550 megawatts. The incident sparked renewed uproar amongst the business fraternity of the province already reeling under the pressure of hours-long power cuts.
On Tuesday, a total of 250 traders from across the city convened at Pipal Mandi for a meeting presided by Sharafat Ali Khan, the general secretary of the traders’ union in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Participants expressed concern over the deteriorating conditions of their businesses and warned of grave economic consequences.
They said if power outages continue, the loss to Pakistan’s gross national product (GDP) will escalate, adding that this would not only increase inflation, but also cause employment levels to plummet.
“Traders are fed up and ready to come out on the roads. We have filed complaints, but they have fallen on deaf ears,” Khan told participants of the meeting.
He added power outages had caused enormous losses as traders were forced to use expensive alternatives, such as generators, to continue running their enterprises.
“The duration of load-shedding is increasing with each passing day and the summer season is almost here,” Khan said, adding that authorities were not concerned about problems faced by traders and had no strategy to tackle them either.
While traders feel they have no other option left but to observe a strike, they know such a move will not solve their problems if concerned authorities do not take solid remedial steps.
Several industrial units have already been forced to shut down, while rural areas experience acute water shortage when tube wells are rendered dysfunctional.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2013.
Traders and businessmen across the province came together for a huddle on Tuesday following the recent country-wide power outage which fuelled the business community’s outrage over losses suffered on account of frequent load-shedding.
All the major cities of the country plunged into darkness Sunday night as the Uch power plant dropped below 550 megawatts. The incident sparked renewed uproar amongst the business fraternity of the province already reeling under the pressure of hours-long power cuts.
On Tuesday, a total of 250 traders from across the city convened at Pipal Mandi for a meeting presided by Sharafat Ali Khan, the general secretary of the traders’ union in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Participants expressed concern over the deteriorating conditions of their businesses and warned of grave economic consequences.
They said if power outages continue, the loss to Pakistan’s gross national product (GDP) will escalate, adding that this would not only increase inflation, but also cause employment levels to plummet.
“Traders are fed up and ready to come out on the roads. We have filed complaints, but they have fallen on deaf ears,” Khan told participants of the meeting.
He added power outages had caused enormous losses as traders were forced to use expensive alternatives, such as generators, to continue running their enterprises.
“The duration of load-shedding is increasing with each passing day and the summer season is almost here,” Khan said, adding that authorities were not concerned about problems faced by traders and had no strategy to tackle them either.
While traders feel they have no other option left but to observe a strike, they know such a move will not solve their problems if concerned authorities do not take solid remedial steps.
Several industrial units have already been forced to shut down, while rural areas experience acute water shortage when tube wells are rendered dysfunctional.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2013.