Traders observed token hunger strike for consecutive two-day against increase in power tariff, natural gas and unannounced load shedding at Chowk Kutchery Multan on Wednesday. The strike call was given by All Pakistan Traders Convention. A number of traders observed two-hour token hunger strike on Wednesday. Traders said that the strike would be observed till the acceptance of their demands.
Traders leader Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq, Khalid Mehmood Qureshi also attended the protest camp. They said prolonged power outages had forced them to launch a protest but if the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) failed to meet its commitment, they would be left with no option but to stage more protests.
They said the business community was under the impression that there was an acute shortage of electricity in the country and they were ready to cooperate with the government, but unfortunately unannounced power outages had pushed the entire business as well as industrial sector to the wall and forced them to take to the streets. They said that thousands of industrial workers were facing the threat of unemployment in the wake of non-availability of electricity but the government was playing the role of a silent spectator.
They said the economic crisis would further deepen in coming days as the industry had failed to meet existing export orders let alone new orders. Traders said that bureaucracy was not interested in improving the situation and was pushing the traders to come on streets.
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