Harassment of the Punjab APTMA member mills is not acceptable, as no member mill of the association is involved in unauthorised use of electricity, said Punjab APTMA Acting Chairman Syed Ali Ahsan while holding a press conference at the APTMA Punjab office on Saturday.
Ali Ahsan said the LESCO’s relief in power supply on May 27 was of institutional nature and for the whole textile industry including the APTMA members across the board.
APTMA Group Leader Gohar Ejaz was also present on the occasion, who termed the situation as an outcome of mere ‘misunderstanding’ and expressed the hope that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will take appropriate step when he will come to know the reality of situation.
Gohar said the APTMA was also ready for energy audit of its member mills but no one will be allowed to disrespect them in any manner.
He said he has made thorough investigation and the nominated member mils have stated on oath they were not involved in any type of wrongdoing.
According to him, Pakistan was known to the world over either for textile industry or nuclear capability. The textile mills not only bringing respect for the country but also providing jobs to millions of workers and earning foreign exchange for the country.
He further pointed out that the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been contesting the case of Punjab-based textile mills on independent feeders and ensured exemption from load shedding for almost three years.
He said increase in energy crisis has resulted into removal of exemption from load shedding to the Punjab APTMA member mills on independent feeders.
Resultantly, he said the APTMA management was constantly fighting the case of PEPCO-fed mills, facing 10 hours a day load shedding with Rs16 per unit energy cost, bearing an additional cost of Rs 100 billion against the mils in Sindh and KP.
Gohar said rainy spells during the month of May brought additional electricity against actual demand on the LESCO network, which was utilised by the member mills like other consumers. However, it has become crime of the industry to utilise available electricity in the system, he deplored.
He said the APTMA members are pride of Pakistan and they should not be victimised on the basis of misunderstanding. The allegation of power theft is insulting for the APTMA as well and I strongly object to it, he stressed.
He urged the government to ensure uninterrupted energy supply to the member mills throughout Punjab.
Earlier, the Punjab APTMA acting chairman said the Punjab-based APTMA member mills are supplied electricity by DISCOs through independent/grouped 11kv feeders with nearly zero losses against the weighted average of 21 percent losses of the PEPCO.
Of the total 235 member mills in Punjab, 58 member mills having no alternative source of energy are prime electricity users with 138 MW of load. Of these, 25 mills with 55MW load are located in the LESCO jurisdiction. Five mills out of these are completely shut down, while others operate partially due to non-availability of energy.
On May 27, 2014, he said, the LESCO had shut down 10 grid stations in Lahore to take up electricity works for the Metro Bus Project. Unfortunately, the shutdown extended beyond the approved time period leading to difficulty for the people of affected areas.
However, the LESCO due to low demand because of shut grid stations afforded 1-2 hours relief to textile industry between 2pm to 4pm, which has been taken as corruption by the LESCO. It has also been alleged that electricity to the industry was diverted from the domestic sector, which is incorrect.
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