Chairman Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) Sohail Lashari has demanded of the government to enhance power generation on war footing as 14 to 16 of power cuts likely to trigger civil disobedience in the province. Lashari in a statement on Tuesday said that government had failed to generate electricity even as per installed capacity of more than 18000MW.
He said that despite a strong opposition by the private sector, the government adopted the path of rental power projects instead of producing cheap and sufficient electricity through hydel and coal resources. He said that loadshedding was making the business community cry. He said that non-payment of dues to the IPPs was the biggest reason of ongoing energy crisis but the government was least interested to pay dues despite sucking the blood of the masses in the name of unjustified fuel adjustment charges.
Lashari said that it was a sheer injustice that instead of controlling line losses and making arrangements to stop electricity thefts in other provinces, the authorities were trying to worsen the situation in Punjab. He said that if immediate measures were not taken to ensure continuous supply of electricity to the industrial units, industrial wheel would come to a complete halt. He said that industry was already passing through a very difficult times and the none-supply of power adding fuel to the fire. Chairman PIAF asked the government to immediately take steps to resolve energy crisis otherwise protests would be intensified and situation would go out of hands of the government.