The representatives of all the main trade bodies announced this while talking to the press here on Tuesday.

They said that the production of as many as 7000 industrial units in the export-oriented city of Sialkot was severely hampered due to the unending unscheduled daily 20 to 21 hours of power outages causing great financial loss of millions of rupees, besides, showing 40 percent decline in overall exports due to which the exporters feare that they would not be able to achieve the fixed official target of exports.

"We will lock up our factories as a protest against prolonged power outages in a bid to avert further financial losses," they said.

They were of the view that uncontrolled power outages have forced them to lock up their factories, as this situation should be an eye opener and a point of grave concern for everyone.

“Thus, we have decided to close our factories from May 2, 2011, if unscheduled load shedding will not be stopped in Sialkot,” said the representatives of the trading bodies.

Talking to the press, President Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhary said that neglecting the repeated appeals by the Sialkot business community, the Gepco Sialkot has increased the duration of unscheduled power outages from 18 to 21 hours a day.

Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and other main trade bodies of Sialkot have expressed grave concern over the daily power outages in Sialkot.

The business community had already announced to come on the roads as a protest against the "forced" power outages, which was badly affecting the industrial pace in Sialkot, besides, hampering the industrial production here.

They were of the view that it was a forced load shedding of power and gas, which had been imposed on the business community of Sialkot under a conspiracy, putting the industries in the area at great financial and economical crisis.

They made it clear that the exports target fixed by the federal government for the running fiscal year would not be achieved due to these circumstances.

They said that 18 to 20 hours of forced power outages were badly affecting production due to which hundreds of labourers and industrial workers were being rendered jobless.