The traders raised their voice against unprecedented power breakdowns in the provincial capital on Thursday. They observed that all power distribution companies in Punjab including Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) were flouting orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
APAT Central Secretary General Naeem Mir said that 18-hour load shedding by LESCO indicated the magnitude of corruption by the power company’s officials.
The court had ordered the company to cut down on load shedding period to 8 hours but LESCO continued to carry out electricity outages for more than 18 hours, he said.
He remarked this practice amounted to electricity theft. He further said that all ministries concerned would have to sit together to end power crisis in the country. He lamented that the prevailing crisis was a result of poor political policies.
The trade leader urged the government to ensure equal supply of electricity throughout the country as the province was the worst hit by the electricity shortage and only last year it lost three percent of its GDP share due to power crisis. He said acute electricity and gas shortage had not only crippled the trade and industry but also brought widespread unemployment and poverty. He said consumers of the efficient distribution companies with lowest line losses and the highest recovery ratio were being treated unfairly.
