Loadshedding to make more people jobless

LAHORE - President Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate Mian Nauman Kabir has feared that acute shortage of electricity and gas could take the graph of unemployment to new heights besides pushing the whole industrial sector to the wall.

Addressing a meeting of area industrialists on Monday, Mian Nauman Kabir said that ongoing loadshedding had badly affected the Textile, Plastic and Food processing sectors and the people attached with these sectors are in deep trouble. The President Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate said that the government should take to whole nation into confidence as the fast going up dollar prices have not only increased the overall debt burden by Rs 900 billion but also tarnished the image of the country in the eyes of foreign investors.

He suggested to the government to come up with confidence building measures to stop the economic meltdown. He, however, appreciated the State Bank of Pakistan for taking measures for strengthening fast fall rupee prices.

He said that the global financial crisis was also denting the Pakistan's economy heavily as more than 60 per cent of country's exports were textile related and are destined for the United States, UK and European Union.

He said that the government would have to ensure continuous supply of electricity and gas to all the industrial units for putting the economy back on rails.

Mian Nauman Kabir, earlier, informed the participants of the steps taken by the Board of Management to ensure the security in the industrial estate.