Power, gas outages: Traders observe shutter-down strike

Threaten to launch massive protests if matter not resolved.

SWAT: The traders association boycotted court proceedings and observed a shutter-down strike along with the district bar association due to prolonged power and gas outages in Mingora on Wednesday.

While speaking at a news conference, Abdur Rahim, the president of the traders association who had called for the strike, said that they had appealed to the members of national and provincial assemblies to solve the issue, but to no avail. “We are suffering from 12 to 14 hours of gas and power load-shedding while in surrounding areas, the power outages exceed 18 hours,” Rahim said.



Rahim claimed even though they have been paying bills and giving taxes, they were deprived of the basic utilities. He added if the issue is not resolved within three days, they will launch violent protests in the entire Malakand Division and hold the provincial government responsible for the consequences.

Meanwhile, Mingora Bar Association boycotted courts to protest against the same issue. President of the association, Advocate Razaullah said every person in the district is suffering from the policies of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government concerning electricity and gas. “If the problem is not solved, we will launch massive protests against the provincial government,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.