Industrialists to protest unless KESC ends 12-hour load shedding at once says KCCI President

Industrialists to protest unless KESC ends 12-hour load shedding at once says KCCI President

On Monday, November 28, Mian Abrar Ahmed, the president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has stated that KCCI and Industrialists will go on strike unless the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) ends 12-hour
load shedding at once.

Addressing the media at the KCCI head office, Ahmed said, “We expected an end to load shedding from Monday but it did not materialise. We expect the situation to improve in a day or two, but if it does not, we will resume our protest
against KESC.”

Dr. Ishratul Ibad, Governor Sindh, held a meeting with top officials of KESC, KCCI and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) at the Governor’s House to discuss the prevailing matter, gas load management in Sindh. An agreement was made
between the parties, according to which, Karachi Electric Supply Company will without more ado end load shedding in the industrial areas of Sindh, if Sui Southern Gas Company starts supplying 180 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas to KESC, which is
60 mmcfd more than from the present 120 mmcfd.

In response to this, Karachi Electric Supply Company has staunched to pay Rs2 billion to SSGC by Tuesday, November 29 out of the outstanding amount that has risen well above Rs34 billion.

A Karachi Electric Supply Company spokesperson said that the company cannot entertain the needs of Sindh and industrial areas of Karachi unless SSGC increase gas supply to 180 mmcfd. A failure to do so will result in continuing
load shedding in industrial areas of Karachi.

Karachi Electric Supply Company on Friday had announced that the industrialists who don’t pay electricity bill within the deadline their power supply would be cut down without any notice. This sparked a rift between them and the
industrialists.

Seven associations encompassing 17,000 members have been protesting against 12-hour load shedding for about a week and have warned KESC that they’ll stop paying electricity bills if prolonged load shedding continued.

Pakistan has been experiencing power outages for some time now and Sindh especially Karachi has been hit the hardest. Industrialists in the financial hub of Pakistan have called the government to introduce cheaper electricity for
them and bring an end to power outages once and for all otherwise they’ll be forced to shift their business to other countries.

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Nov 28 2011. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry