Punjab hit hard by electricity loadshedding: LCCI

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) again on Friday urged the government to ensure equal supply of electricity throughout the country as the province of Punjab is the worst hit by the electricity shortage and only last year it lost three percent of its GDP due to power crisis.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh in a statement said that due to long hours power cuts the investment scenario had spoiled in the province and so much so existing industrial units had curtailed their productions.

He said despite a consensus decision at the Energy Conference held on April 9, and a pledge by for equal loadshedding across Pakistan, the electricity consumers especially the province of Punjab continued to suffer from unjust and prolonged loadshedding.

He said acute electricity and gas shortage had not only crippled the trade and industry but also brought widespread unemployment and poverty.

Irfan said consumers of the efficient distribution companies with lowest line losses and the highest recovery ratio were being treated unfairly.

He said it was very unfortunate that loadshedding in Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Lahore was 10 to 18 hours while in Hyderabad four to eight hours, Karachi two hours, Nawab Shah six to eight hours, Peshawar six to 10 hours, Quetta four to eight hours, Rawalpindi eight to 14 hours and Sukkur six to eight hours.

He said recovery of the bills in Faisalabad was 99.8 percent, Gujranwala 98.8 percent, Lahore 98.1 percent while in Hyderabad it was 59.1 percent, Karachi 85.6 percent, Peshawar 78.4 percent, Quetta 41 percent, while the line losses in Peshawar were 35 percent, in Hyderabad 34 percent, Quetta 18 percent, Lahore 13 percent, Gujranwala 12 percent, Faisalabad 11 percent and Islamabad 10 percent.

He said Punjab contributed nearly two thirds to the GDP of Pakistan, adding Punjab paid for 80 percent of electricity bills and got only 60 percent of electricity units, yet Punjab was being made the worst victim of injustice.

He said the Energy Conference 2012 had pledged to reduce and equalise loadshedding throughout the country, yet the situation had not improved, adding awful prolonged loadshedding was hitting all sectors of economy including trade, industry and agriculture.

The LCCI President said the private sector was engine of the growth and in the developed countries it was facilitated to the maximum but in Pakistan circumstances were quite the other way round. LCCI has repeatedly warned the government of massive lay-offs and industrial closures if it failed to immediately stop power outages but people sitting on the helm of the affairs were playing the role of silent spectators, he said.

He said the government would not be able to control the situation triggered by the demonstrations and strikes called by the angry industrial workers against their retrenchments as a result of those power outages.

Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said the industry needed continuous supply of electricity to keep the units operational and to complete the export orders well within the given timeframe but only because of the shortage of electricity the exports were not up to the mark. He said Pakistan had already lost a number of global markets and the new power cuts would further aggravate the situation.