Strike on, strike off

Industrialists irked by power outages call off appeal for strike, assured by Sindh governor of supply to industries.

KARACHI: Industrialists have rescinded an appeal for a strike on Wednesday on the back of assurances by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad. The governor said that emergency measures would be taken to ensure the supply of electricity to industries and to improve industrial conditions.

Following the governor’s assurances, the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) decided not to go through with a strike on Wednesday.

The governor took notice of the negative impact of continued power outages on the performance of the industry and summoned Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) CEO Tabish Gauhar, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Managing Director Faizullah Abbasi and various representatives of industries to the Governor’s House in Karachi.

During the meeting, emergency steps were discussed to ensure the supply of power to industrial areas. The governor contacted the minister for finance and the minister for petroleum and then directed Pakistan State Oil to supply additional furnace oil to KESC.

He said that he would personally monitor the supply of electricity to industrial areas and called for another meeting in two days to discuss the situation.

FPCCI supports strike, KCCI does not

Earlier in the day, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) had supported a call for a strike on November 3 made by six industrial zones of Karachi against the shortage of power and natural gas.

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) had, however, termed the strike harmful to the economy and distanced itself from the appeal.

FPCCI President Sultan Chawla said that the economic condition of the country is deteriorating every day and the government has been unsuccessful in stabilising the economy.

Addressing a press conference, Chawla said that industrial activity is being hampered by the electricity shortfall and the rising prices of petroleum and its products.

Tariq Saeed, a former president of the FPCCI, said that as a result of the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), tariffs for electricity and natural gas have become more expensive and the increase in prices of petroleum products will only add to inflation. He said that associations and chambers across Pakistan share the same grievances as the industries of Karachi do.

KATI President Johar Ali Qandhari said that the strike will cause Rs12 billion in production losses to the industry, Rs1 billion in revenue losses for the government and 22,000 industrial units will remain shut.

KCCI President Saeed Shafiq, among other KCCI officials, severely criticised the appeal for strike. The KCCI said that the country’s economy cannot afford an industrial strike right now and that the economy will suffer losses of Rs4-5 billion due to a single day of industrial closure.

Different industrial areas have been suffering from 12 hours of power outages. KESC has held SSGC responsible for reducing gas supply to the power distributor from 180 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) to 80 mmcfd.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2010.