The local industrialists in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry strongly protested against the re-start of massive electricity loadshedding for industry by the IESCO which has almost crippled the industrial activities and called upon the government to look into this serious issue on priority basis to save the industry from further destruction. 

 

Addressing the meeting, Muzzamil Hussain Sabri President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Abdul Rauf Alam Chairman Founder Group and Muhammad Shakeel Munir Senior Vice President, ICCI said that Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had assured that power loadshedding for industry would be ended, but recent move of IESCO was totally against the stated position of the government. 

 

They said that IESCO has started electricity loadshedding for industry in Islamabad during prime working hours viz. from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm which was highly lamentable as it has badly affected production schedules. They said this situation has badly disturbed the daily production targets of almost all local industrial units including marble, steel, pharmaceutical, edible oil, flour, food processing, soap, IT etc. They urged upon the IESCO to reconsider this move and take urgent measure to minimize loadshedding for industry so that local industrialists could be saved from further losses.

 

Abdul Rauf Alam said thousands of workers were employed in local industry and sudden huge increase in electricity loadshedding has rendered them idle for long hours. He was afraid that if power shutdown issue was not tackled on urgent basis by the IESCO, hundreds of works could lose jobs, which will increase unemployment and social instability. 

 

The industrialists stressed that IESCO should keep larger economic interests of the country supreme and take local industry on board to finalize a consensus loadshedding schedule that should ensure minimum losses to industrial activities.