Mr. Muhammad Mansha Churra, Acting President of FPCCI has expressed his grave concern on the increase of power tariff by six paisa per unit with retrospective from February 2009 for all consumers except farmers and electric users upto 50 units. There are apprehensions that there may be a further increase in tariff under the IMF conditionalities. He said that the rise in electric charges will add to the misery of the people already overburdened by escalating price hike. He stated that more shocking is the fact that increases in electricity charges is made without any assurances that there bill be no load shedding in future.
He said that the plight of load shedding has simply increased the miseries of people who are already panting under dearth of essential commodities, high unemployment, unprecedented price hike, virutally no healthcare, fragile education system and law and order.
Mr. Muhammad Mansha Churra emphasized that the Government is not taking the matter seriously even when the power crisis has badly affected the country's financial hub with 75 per share in the country's revenue generation. The government is wasting time in elaborating factors responsible for the mess rather than resolving the problem. He urged that the government should resolve the matter of load shedding and energy crisis on urgent basis.
Mr. Zakaria Usman, Vice President FPCCI and Chairman Standing Committee on SMEs accentuated that the management of the KESC has deliberately been producing less electricity than the available capacity of its plants. He said the issues and disputes between KESC and Independent Power Producers or IPPs should be resolved among themselves and the burden of prolong spells of power load-shedding in the city should not be transferred to the consumers, which is badly affecting the businesses of small traders.