PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Wednesday expressed grave concern over unscheduled long-hour electricity loadshedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) to stop the outages being conducted in name of load management forthwith.
Chairing a joint meeting of industrialists and traders here at the chamber on Wednesday, SCCI President Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad said all sectors have adversely been affected by the unannounced excessive power outages being carried out in all sectors by Pesco.
SCCI Senior vice president Imran Khan Mohmand, vice president Javed Akhtar, a large number of industrialists and trading community leaders and exporters attended the meeting.
Hasnain Khurshid said industrial and commercial activities have come to a standstill owing to worst outages.
It is making it difficult to run multiple industries and businesses due to excessive power outages, he added.
The SCCI chief noted that the country’s economy is currently passing through a difficult phase of history.
Adding to miseries of businessmen in the prevailing circumstances is equally tantamount to further push the country’s economy towards a complete collapse, Hasnain Khurshid said.
The chamber president said electricity is being utilized in industries as raw material.
He warned if the electricity couldn’t be available to industries then it would bring further negative impacts on local economy, exports and businesses.
Khurshid, on the occasion, strongly condemned the frequent increase in power tariffs, saying that KP is producing low-cost electricity and buying at the highest rate.
Despite the buying enormous rates, he added, electricity is unavailable to consumers attached with all sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was reflecting the present central coalition government’s anti-industries and business-hostile policy.
The SCCI’s chief urged the federal government to issue a directive to Pesco to halt unannounced excessive power outages and ensure smooth supply of electricity to industries and businesses forthwith, warning that if not do so, the SCCI along with the trading community would strongly protest against it.
