SIALKOT: Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has strongly rejected the recent Rs. 3.04 per unit increase in electricity tariff by the federal government, saying that the government has bombed the poor masses.
Talking to the newsmen here on Saturday, the President SCCI Naeem Anwar Qureshi said that the recent increase in power tariff would prove a last nail n the coffin of the country’s dying economy. He said that this hike in power tariff would the ruin all kinds of the business by raising the cost of doing business and increasing the cost of production.
He said that the other main trade bodies have strongly rejected the recent hike in power tariff by the government, adding that this hike price would badly affect the power and gas outages beaten export industries of Sialkot.
He added that the increase in power tariff would flow a new deadly flood of price hike in the country.
They termed the decision a “bomb” for export industry of Sialkot, saying that it would also ruin SMEs based industry of Sialkot. He said that decision seemed a conspiracy against the government. This hike would prove a cut-throat for industrial sector, which was already striving for its survival due to unending unscheduled load shedding of electricity and gas.
SCCI President narrated that it had become very hard for the Sialkot exporters to stay in competitions in international trade markets against the other countries.
Naeem Anwar also expressed concern on two weekly holidays and urged the government that export industry may be exempted from two weekly closures so that it may supply products to the foreign buyers.
He revealed that closure of industry would affect industrial sector, already hit by high input costs, increased electricity tariffs and high prices of petroleum, adding that the country is facing various crises, which could have been averted and resolved with pre-emptive measures and better management.
The country has been facing shortfall of electricity for some time but the issue is more of management as the generation capacity of the country is around 20,000 MW against maximum demand of 17, 000 to 18,000 MW. The concerned authorities may take all possible measures to utilise the generation capacity to provide uninterrupted supply to consumers. Two weekly holidays would not serve any purpose but to create problems for business and industry causing further economic woes, he added.
Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011
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