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Lahore, May 10, 2012 (PPI-OT): The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wednesday urged the LESCO authorities to ensure electricity supply to cottage industry for at least seven hours at a stretch during the day time.
The LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh and Senior Vice President Kashif Younis Meher were talking to a 25-member delegation of Mominpura Cottage Engineering Industries Autoparts Owners Association jointly headed by Ghulam Sarwar Malik, Chairman of the association Mian Mohammad Nasrullah and President Mohammad Ayub Mughal.
The LCCI President said that the LESCO authorities must understand the importance of industrial areas in the country that are not only generating revenue for the government but also providing jobs to millions of people. He said that it was very unfortunate that while preparing schedule for power cuts the LESCO authorities do not consult the stake holders.
He said that Mominpura Industrial area that has yet not been granted the status of industrial area despite repeated assurances by the government is a hub of cottage industry and now-a-days these small businessmen are sitting idle only because of senseless power cuts by the LESCO.
Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that it was beyond the understanding of the business community in Lahore that why the City is being subjected to over 16 hours power cuts when in Karachi, Multan and Islamabad the loadshedding is just for four hours. He said that equal loadshedding should for all parts of the country.
The LCCI President also urged the Labor department and relevant authorities to undertake a systematic review of the existing definition of the cottage industry in line with international parameters. The review is important given the change in economic realities in Pakistan and the needs of cottage industry.
He said that all the places where upto twenty people are working should be declared cottage industry instead of present strength of five workers. He said that around the globe cottage industry is considered the backbone of the economy and facilitated in all possible ways but in Pakistan the situation is the other way round.
Earlier, the delegation gave a detailed briefing to LCCI office-bearers over the challenges and the problems being faced by them. They said that City District Government should be asked to exempt cottage industry belonging to autoparts from license.
Vice President of Moninpura Cottage Engineering Industries Autoparts Owners Association Mohammad Altaf, General Secretary Mohammad Umer Mughal, Joint Additional Secretary Haji Barkat Munir, Joint Secretary Ghulam Murtaza, Information Secretary Mohammad Javed and Vice Chairman Haji Allah Ditta also spoke on the occasion.
For more information, contact:
Shahid Khalil
Information Department
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)
11-Shahrah-e-Aiwan-e-Tijarat,
Lahore -54000, Pakistan
Tel: +9242 111 222 499
Fax: +92 42 636 8854