Loadshedding, high Haj fares under fire in Senate

ISLAMABAD - The Opposition in the Senate on Friday severely criticized the government for persistent loadshedding and increasing Haj fares.

The Opposition members said that all the industries in the country had been badly affected due to loadshedding. They said that the textile industries’ workers and the common people were suffering a lot because of persistent loadshedding.

Jamal Laghari of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) criticized the government and said that as many as 800 ginning mills of cotton had been closed down due to power outage.

He said that poor farmers and textile industries were in a miserable condition owing to loadshedding. He said that the government should take short and long-term measures to overcome the shortage of electricity.

Col (Retd) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said that the people of Balochistan, Sindh, Faisalabad and Multan were facing 18 to 20 hours of loadshedding. He said that the government had increased three times the bills of electricity and the poor people were unable to pay such huge power bills.

Sami Siddiqui observed that the people should transfer their foreign holdings to Pakistan in order to pull the country out of the prevalent economic crises.          

Leader of the House in Senate Mian Raza Rabbani said on the floor of the House that the government was taking measures to overcome the problem of loadshedding. He said that Prime Minster Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had taken up this issue in the right earnest. He said that a committee had been formed which would review the issue of increased power tariff. Haji Adeel said that foreign countries provided many facilities and concessions to their Hajis. But Pakistan never provided any such facilities to its Hajis.