KARACHI- A meeting to discuss energy conservation steps was held with the business community at Chief Minister House here on Friday.
Participants of the meeting were members of the committee constituted by Chief Minister Sindh namely Sindh Minister for Power Shazia Marri, Special Assistant to CM Rashid Rabbani and Chairman Sindh Board of Investment Zubair Motiwala alongwith Taj Haider, MPA Shoaib Ibrahim, Siraj Qasim Teli, Talat, Majeed Memon, Additional IG Sindh, Abdul Wahan Soomro Additional Commissioner Karachi, representative of City District Government Ateeq Baig  and heads of different traders associations.
While addressing the meeting, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah explained the electricity shortage in of the National Energy Conference held in Lahore and invited the opinion of business community on the issue of closing shops by 8P.M.
The business community was of the view that since Karachi was a metropolis and an economic hub, it should be treated as an exception. They further said that businesses in Karachi were already being disturbed by the presence of miscreants and it was most important to address this concern.
Most business persons were also concerned about KESC’s load shedding and demanded that uninterrupted electricity supply be ensured during the business hours for the shops to able to close at the stipulated time.
It was also mentioned that police had earlier taken action to control the extortion mafia on the complaints of the business community but more concentrated effort was required.
Chief Minister directed the Additional IG police Akhtar Gorchani to address all concerns of the business community and assured them of a high level meeting with all law enforcers focusing the concerns of small and big traders.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah further expressed the need to ensure energy conservation as one of the options to meet the demand for energy.
Chief Minister said that although Balochistan was the first province to produce electricity but it was the city of Karachi that got electrified before any other city therefore it was important to think as a nation.
He said that the Government was focusing on various options for electricity generation but conservation was necessary to provide immediate relief since it saved approximately a thousand megawatts if different conservation options were implemented.
The Chief Minister also mentioned Saturday being considered for holiday alongwith the lighting of alternate street lights and neon bill boards as other steps for conservation of energy.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah reiterated that he gave priority to speaking with the stakeholders before making any announcements since all decisions needed ownership and implementation was only possible if everyone gave priority to dealing with the current energy crises as a national challenge.