The executive committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in its first meeting on Tuesday expressed concern on the issues of unscheduled load shedding and encroachments and urged the Punjab government to find out a sustainable solution. LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid while presiding over the meeting said that unscheduled power outages are hitting the industrial production hard. The industrialists cannot plan production schedule when they are blank about the availability of electricity. Since electricity is a major raw material for the industries therefore its availability in bits and pieces is of no use to the industries, he said, adding that all industrial processes need continuous power supply and a little break in it spoils the entire process.
Pakistan has already lost a number of international markets and exports are stagnant while new power cuts are further aggravating the situation. The uninterrupted power supply is the only way to achieve economic targets for the current financial year, the LCCI chief said. The executive committee members complained that encroachment is another area that should be focused seriously and urged the Punjab government to launch campaign against the encroachments in consultation with the stakeholders as it is not only creating hurdles for smooth flow of traffic but is also adding to the cost of doing business.
They said that a hurdle-free movement of vehicle is a must for timely delivery of goods. They also stressed the need for construction of parking plazas in and around the city markets so that the shoppers and the businessmen could conduct their respective activities with a peace of mind. The parking plazas are direly needed in the city to avoid haphazard parking of vehicles that often causes accidents, the members said.