Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Friday urged government to share its energy plan as the highest-ever electricity tariff and more than 14 hours power outages have crippled both the trade and industry. In a statement issued here, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh
said cheaper and uninterrupted power supply is the only way to achieve economic targets set for the year 2012, but neither is the government sharing its future plans in this regard nor paying any
heed to the difficulties being faced by the trade and industry.
“How the government would establish its writ and from where it would collect revenues to run its day-to-day affairs when the industrial wheel is coming to a grinding halt.” LCCI President said that the government should understand that economic well being is a must for democracy. Unemployment, price-hikes and industrial closures always give birth to lawlessness and anarchy. Therefore, the government should understand the ground realities and reset its priorities. Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said it is astonishing that on the one hand the government circles were talking of economic stability in 2012 while on the other hand they were not sharing any kind of roadmap to achieve this goal. LCCI President said despite massive repeated increases in electricity tariff in last months the government had failed to decrease the ever increasing gap between the cost of power generation and revenue collection.
He said that PEPCO is adding up a staggering amount of Rs30 billion per month as circular debt due to inefficiency in collection of power dues, its failure to stop power theft and Kunda culture.
