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Lahore, April 12, 2013 (PPI-OT): Lahore Township Industries Association (LTIA) has threatened to take extreme step if government fails to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to the industrial sector without any further delay.
The LTIA Chairman Nasrullah Mughal was addressing the representatives of the trade and industry associations here at LTIA office on Friday. PIAF Chairman Malik Tahir Javaid, LCCI former President Mian Anjum Nisar also spoke on the occasion. The prominent among the participants were Haroon Shafique Chaudhry, Chaudhry Iftikhar Bashir, Mehmood Akhtar, and Syed Mehmood Ghaznvi.
Nasrullah Mughal said that if pilferage in controlled and recovery of outstanding dues from other provinces is expedited, the government would be able to curtail loadshedding to a considerable degree.
He said that power outage after every hour is not only damaging the industrial processes but had also curtailed productions. He said that the government should come out with a strategy to ensure continuous supply of electricity to the industry.
He said that it was very unfortunate that despite the fact that the industry in Punjab is paying all its dues, it is being denied power and gas. He said that the graph of unemployment is going up with every passing day but the rulers are playing the role of silent spectator.
The LTIA Chairman said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan should take notice of the situation in the larger interests of the economy.
He said that the MD SNGPL while addressing the industrialists at the Lahore Township Industrial Area in the end of month of March had promised to provide gas to industries four days a week but he fulfilled his promise for only ten days. Now once again, they are providing gas for only three days a week.
The Chairman PIAF Malik Tahir Javaid said that the situation has turned so bad that leading industrial units are experiencing losses despite being managed professionally.
The crisis in industrial sector is not only causing flight of capital and relocation of industrial units to the countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia but had also reduced government revenues drastically.
He said that a similar situation had erupted about two years ago but that was resolved with the help of the business community who lent a lot of input in developing a viable load management plan.
He appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter and direct the concerned authorities for uninterrupted power supply to the industrial sector.
For more information, Contact:
Khalil-ur-Rehman
Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front
110/s Kot Lakhpat Industrial Estate
Lahore, Pakistan
Phone: (92) 42 5123522
Fax: (92) 42 5123522
Email: Info@piaf.pk