The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has called an emergency meeting of all industrial town associations of the city on Monday to discuss prevailing power crisis and Rs one billion Karachi Electric Supply Company''s legal notice served on two members and decide a line of action.
Leader of Businessmen Group and former President KCCI, Siraj Kassam Teli along with office-bearers and chairmen of seven industrial town associations will address a press conference and announce line of action. Representatives of all the industrial associations, members and office-bearers of KCCI will decide whether to fight the case in court and file a case of damages and losses sustained due to long hours loadshedding in industrial, residential and commercial areas of the city, sources said.
Meanwhile an emergency meeting was held at North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) presided over by its Chairman Abdul Rasheed Fodderwala to discuss issue raised due to legal notice served by KESC on Siraj Kassam Teli and Mian Abrar Ahmed. The meeting was attended by NKATI Pattern-in-Chief Noor Ahmed Khan, Vice Chairman Ashraf Jamil and Syed Usman and a large number of the associations. They expressed solidarity with Teli and Abrar Ahmed and said that entire business community is united under the umbrella of KCCI. They demanded immediate withdrawal of the notice.
They said that business community sustaining billions of rupees losses due to loadshedding in industrial and commercial areas. Loadshedding not only damaging industrial production but also have serious negative impact on exports and government revenue.
They said that the industrialists have no concern either KESC is not paying dues to SSGC or SSGC not supplying gas to KESC. Industrial and all other sectors have serious concern that when they pay dues of KESC on time they must get electricity without any break.
In a statement, Chairman Site Association of Industry (SAI), Mohammad Irfan, has taken a serious note of KESC serving Rs 1 billion defamation notices to leading businessmen for allegedly making defamatory and offensive remarks in print and electronic media. Irfan Moton condemned the act of KESC and said that KESC should have thought twice before serving the notices to the current and former presidents of KCCI , Mian Abrar and Siraj Kassam Teli.
He said that they are the leaders of the business community and serving the notice to them means KESC has served the notice to the entire business community. KESC should reassess the treatment of its most valued consumers, cutting down power supply without any intimation besides the scheduled and un-scheduled load shedding periods due to which the businesses are suffering tremendously and they are unable to meet their export orders. He warned the KESC management in clear words to withdraw immediately the ill intended ultimatum given by it against the above mentioned business community leaders otherwise the entire business community would stage a sit-in front of KESC Head Office and demand them to tender an unconditional apology to them.
Vice Chairmen Businessmen Group and former Presidents KCCI Tahir Khaliq, Zubair Motiwala, Haroon Farooki and Anjum Nisar, all BMG and Managing Committee Members of KCCI in a statement have said that the KESC''s legal notices served to Chairman Businessmen Group and former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli and President KCCI Mian Abrar Ahmad are in fact notices to the whole Business and Industrial Community of Karachi.