Wednesday 11 April 2012

Pakistan electricity crisis


'Black day' observed in Faisalabad against gas, power loadshedding
FAISALABAD: The city on Sunday was dotted with black flags and billboards as industrialists and traders observed a black day against the discrimination in gas and electricity supply to local industry.


9 April, 2012

Black flags and billboards inscribed with slogans against discriminatory loadshedding were fixed at all entrance points of the city on the Sheikhupura Road, Sargodha Road, Jhang Road, Samundri Road, Satiana Road and Jaranwala Road. Canal Road on both sides was also wearing the same look. It was for the first time that the Clock Tower, the central point of eight bazaars of the city, wore a weird look after it was draped with black cloth while the business community observed a complete strike.

Industrialists, traders, transport owners and rickshaw drivers, with black flags on their vehicles, took out rallies to register their protest against unbearable high cost of living, frequent, long and irregular electricity outages and discriminatory treatment with the Punjab.

Textile exporters wearing black dresses staged demonstrations at the Clock Tower Chowk and Amtex Chowk. They also burnt tyres to register their protest. The protesters were chanting slogans against economic and industrial exploitation of the province.

Addressing the protesters, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Chairman Rana Arif Tauseef said that the unprecedented loadshedding was affecting the industrial sector. He was critical of some clauses of the 18th Amendment, which had restricted across-the-board distribution of natural resources. “This discrepancy could be removed in the 20th Amendment but the legislators showed a little interest over the issue,” he remarked. He alleged that the foreign exchange earning sector was being pushed towards a complete closure under a deep rooted conspiracy. He said that the situation had come to such a stage that industrialists were unable to run their mills. He demanded the government take immediate notice of the issue, failing which the textile industry would collapse.

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