Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Shamim Ahmed Shamsi and Abdul Majeed Memon have strongly reacted to the decision of the government to close the shops at 7.30 pm due to shortage of power supply in the city.
In a statement here on Saturday, they said that Karachi chamber had all along been opposing such suggestions and had been putting alternative proposals to the government, to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) and to the policy-markers reverse such decisions.
They said that Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan and caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh had been requested not to issue the order for the closure of shops. They said that the small traders had already suffered huge losses during the last disturbances and law and order situation, and the business activity in the city had not picked up momentum.
They said that Karachi was the hub of business activity and the traders from interior throng Karachi wholesale markets to get the supply for the interior of Sindh. The early closure of markets in Karachi would deeply affect the trade activity in the whole province, they added.
About the retail business in Karachi, they said the office-goers usually come to the marketplaces after Maghrib prayers and in case of early closure of shops, they hardly any time for shopping, they said.
They said that the small traders had reacted strongly and the leadership was finding it difficult to keep them away from agitation in control. Meanwhile, the KCCI has called a meeting of small traders on January 16 to discuss the issue.-PR