Loadshedding hits industrial sector

DASKA - The daily 18 to 20 hours loadshedding is badly affecting the working of more than 6,000 small and big industrial units in Sialkot; rendering hundreds of the daily-waged labourers and industrial workers jobless.
President Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Hassan Ali Bhatti stated this while talking to the newsmen here. Vice President Farooq Mayer was also present on this occasion.
The SCCI president said that industries of Sialkot have been facing as many as 18 to 20 hours daily loadshedding due to which the production was badly halted and the Sialkot based SMEs were unable to adopt the alternative ways for getting electricity. He said that Sialkot industries were suffering from great financial loss of millions of rupees daily, as the Sialkot exporters were unable to ensure the timely dispatch of their export consignments to their foreign destinations. He said due to this critical situation the Sialkot exporters and industrialists were very perturbed, as their foreign buyers were cancelling their orders placed towards Sialkot business community. He said that the foreign buyers were also diverting their business from Sialkot to China, India, Taiwan, Thailand and other countries.
He said that the hundreds of the daily waged workers were being terminated from their jobs from Sialkot factories, as there was no work due to non-availability of electricity.
He urged the government to ensure the early announcement of any schedule of power loadshedding. He aid that early announcement of loadshedding schedule by the Gepco would be helpful in saving the Sialkot's industries from further crisis.