PIAF demands concrete steps to solve energy crisis

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) has demanded of the government to take concrete measures to overcome the ongoing energy crisis.

The decisions in the energy conference like closure of government departments and banks for two days in a week would not help in filling the gap between demand and supply of electricity, said PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari in a statement on Monday.

The forthcoming energy conference may not be useful as like as previous ones. Government has to enhance the power generation to salvage the sinking trade and industry. He urged the government to ensure early payments and supply of furnace oil to the power houses to decrease the acute power shortage.

More than 12 hours load shedding has pushed the industry to the wall but government is playing role of silent spectator on the energy issue. He said that government has been purchasing electricity at the cost of Rs. 35.05 per unit from the disputed rental power plants but all RPPs failed to produce even 150MW of electricity.

He said that situation is becoming worse as the common man is showing his anger through staging protests while the business community is posing for civil disobedience.

He said that country has coal reserves of 185 billion tons that could produce 100000MW electricity for next 100 years while China is also ready to provide technology for generation electricity through coal but government did not bother to consider the Chinese offer.

He said that the unannounced and prolonged electricity load shedding was badly hitting the industrial sector particularly the export-oriented industry. He said that electricity load shedding would bring economic activities to a grinding halt so the government should give priority to this sector in order to revive economic activities in the country.

He said that at the moment when the industrial production is registering negative growth and the business community is facing severe difficulties in dealing with banks, the increase in electricity load shedding would leave them with no other option but to shut down their units.

Chairman PIAF demanded of the government to enhance power generation, release funds for Thar coal project at the earliest and withdraw recent massive increase in the POL prices.