My family has been in the garment business for the past three generations; my grandfather chose Pakistan and started everything from scratch here in Karachi back in 1953. The business has had its fair share of highs and lows but nothing in the past 58 years has prepared us for recent events.
Since the past two days there has been no power, no thanks to KESC. It is true that we have backup power arrangements but the size of our business forces us to remain primarily reliant on KESC for power. The fault on my outlet’s location cannot be rectified as there is no one to do it; the customer services have broken down ever since the “union crisis” started. In an economy that has nothing good for the average business man the deadlock between the union and KESC is the last straw. Why would I want to do business here?
As a businessman myself, I fully realise that labour unions are nothing but trouble, especially in a company that spans decades of political influence. I cannot help but side with KESC in this situation as I have dealt with unions and union like forces in the past. This is not at all a good precedent from government’s support point of view either as tomorrow they may force me to reverse my right sizing decisions as well. The one thing that does anger me about KESC though is the fact that this crisis has stretched on for too long consequently consumers have suffered for too long and that is something that may turn the tables for either party.
MUHAMMAD YAHYA ASIF
Karachi
