Continuous process industry should be exempted from load shedding as about eleven hours power suspension would spoil the whole process and would lead to a complete closure of this industry. The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad stated this while talking to a delegation of the industrialists led by Sajid Murad and Adeel Ashfaq, here on Thursday.
The Lahore Chamber would take up the matter of electricity suspension to the industry with high authorities of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) that took decision without taking the industrialists of the area on board which would yield devastating results, he said.
He said that according to the industrialists of Muridke, industries are also facing load shedding at day time while electricity suspension from 6:30 pm to 5:00 would add fuel to the fire and industrialists would be left with no other option except to close down their units. Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the decision would also raise the graph of unemployment and thousands industrial workers would be compelled for starvation.
Not only the industrialists and workers would be the losers but the government would also lose a huge amount of revenue. He said that load management plan for Sehar and Iftar should be evolved after due consultation with the stakeholders.
Earlier, the delegation leaders said the decision would destroy the industries of Muridke, therefore, the LESCO should reconsider its decision in the larger interest of the economy.