Power Shortage: Industrialists demand electricity

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of local industrialists visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to lodge their protest against incessant load shedding.

President ICCI Zafar Bakhtawari assured them of his complete cooperation to save the industry from total collapse. He urged the government to prioritise power supply to the industry which is losing its production capacity and thus billions of dollars worth of exports. He said Pakistan was already facing huge fiscal deficit.

The delegates opined that the Supreme Court’s order was being misinterpreted by Pepco and other power distribution companies. As a result, load-shedding of the industry increased from six hours to 10-12 hours per day resulting in an almost complete closure of the industry, job loss of millions of workers and cancellation of export orders leading to loss of foreign exchange.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2013.