The industrialists have warned Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) that they would stop payment of gas and electricity bills if loadshedding in industrial areas remain continued.
They also demanded of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and heads of all the banks to waive off markup of the days during which the industries and banks remain closed during the year.
Addressing a press conference, Chairman Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), Syed Johar Ali Qandhari said that industries were facing multiple problems, which were adversely hurting industrial production and now KESC had started 12-hour loadshedding in industrial areas.
He said that KESC blamed that SSGC had cut gas supply from 276 mmcfd agreed quantity to 80 mmcfd and due to which they were unable to run power generating units. Consumers were not responsible of gas shortage and they must get required power, he added.
He said that power and gas loadshedding in industrial areas would result in closure of large number of industrial units while production of all units would suffer due to which they would not be able to pay utility bills.
Referring to demand of waiver of interest being charged by banks for a period in which industries as well as banks remain closed, Qandhari said during a year there are 104 holidays of Saturdays and Sundays, 17 gazatted holidays and around 60 days industries remain closed due to strikes and poor law and order situation.
He mentioned that banks were charging interest on 24 hours bases and added that there was no justification of charging interest for a day on which industries and banks both remain closed.
The KATI chief also warned that if loadshedding extended to the industrial areas and POL prices would be increased by the government it is feared that prices of most essential commodities including atta would increase substantially and the government would have to face anger of the general public.
Former Chairman, KATI, Mian Zahid Husain noted that excluding Karachi there was no power outages in the country. He advised government to direct Wapda to supply 200 to 300MW additional power to KESC so that KESC give up its plan of carrying out loadshedding in industrial areas.
Mian Zahid Husain said that the incident of kidnapping for ransom had increased alarmingly and the businessmen were receiving threat calls. He said that authorities had been approached and phone numbers of such criminals had been identified. He warned that if the government did not take serious action to control this crime then it would be responsible for the consequences.
Chairman, Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), Aziz Ahmed pointed that loadshedding has already started in Tannery Zone (Sector 7-A) which has affected leather industry badly. He said that Eid-ul-Azha was approaching fast and leather industries needed to operate in full swing as this time of the year it collected raw material for the whole year in the form of animal skins.
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