All trade bodies including Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and general public have expressed deep concern over the worst outages of 16-18 hours daily in Sialkot.
Export and trade activities in the city are at the lowest ebb and the export and productivity is deteriorated with every passing day due to prolonged and unscheduled electricity loadshedding. A special meeting of all trade bodies including SCCI and members of civil society was held on Friday at SCCI to discuss the electricity loadshedding and its side effects on the industry.
President SCCI, Ghulam Mustafa Choudary addressing the meeting expressed great concern over the unscheduled loadshedding of 16 to 18 hours in Sialkot. He said that unscheduled loadshedding has crippled the industrial activity and the export industry of Sialkot is on the verge of collapse.
"We are losing over hold in international market and buyers are reluctant to give new orders to Pakistani business community due to current electricity condition of the country," he said. If situation remained the same than Pakistan not only would lose its hold in international market but thousands of people will also lose their jobs, which would create scores of social problems and law and order situation in the country, he said.
Speaking on the occasion other members and representatives of trade bodies said that they did not have any other option for the public and the industry but to protest against prolonged loadshedding.
They expressed deep concern over acute power crisis and said that concerned authorities have been repeatedly requested to provide a 200MW power to Sialkot keeping in view its exclusive status of being the only export industrial city of Pakistan.
They demanded of the concerned authorities to work on war footing to put an end to the massive power outages, as its criminal negligence is adding fuel to the fire. It was decided in the meeting that the business community and general public would protest on July 25 against the unscheduled electricity loadshedding.