Textile exporters hailed the government’s campaign against gas and electricity pilferers and vowed to fully support all such efforts aimed at nabbing the power mafia.
However, the industrial units operating lawfully and possessing valid and legal gas connections should not be harassed, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Chairman Asghar Ali and Vice Chairman Muhammad Asif said on Friday.
In a statement the exporters said that the massive theft of electricity and gas had cast an extremely negative impact on the economy as it had created an energy shortage which was adversely affecting the industry and was raising the cost of electricity which was discouraging new investments.
Curbing theft and giving exemplary punishments to the culprits would discourage future pilfering, reduce line losses and help streamline the energy supply, they added. They appreciated the initiative take by the government but demanded the fair users of gas and electricity to be left alone. They said that the district administration alongside local gas officials was raiding many industrial units without any concrete information which was damaging their market reputation.
“We recommended Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Provincial Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah to include trade association representatives in the raiding parties to avoid any such problems and the proposal was agreed upon, but the district administration had started raiding reputable industrial units without taking the trade representatives on board,” they added.
