ICCI seeks urgent steps to end power outages

ISLAMABAD, April 29: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has expressed concerns over the rising power crisis in the country as the power shortage has reportedly shot up to 6,000 to 7,000 MW and called upon the government to take urgent measures to overcome the worsening energy shortage.

ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir said that rising power crisis would badly affect the economic activities, besides making life of the common man more miserable in this sweltering heat. He said this while addressing the ICCI Executive Committee meeting, said a statement issued on Friday.

Munir said that the menace of load-shedding has swept across the country leaving the businesses and the homes in the dark at a time when the temperatures were on the rise. He said that the urban areas were reportedly experiencing 6 to 10 hours load-shedding and rural areas 8 to 16 hours load-shedding, which showed that the energy crisis has worsened in the country. He said that the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has assured to end the loadshedding soon, which was encouraging, but the situation demanded war footing measures to tackle this serious crisis.

The ICCI president said that energy was the key requirement for trade and industrial activities while the uninterrupted and affordable power supply was essential for accelerated economic growth of the country. He said that the electricity was an important economic indicator as its availability or shortage encouraged or discouraged the local and foreign investors. - DNA