Islamabad: /DNA/ – Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that open and hanging electric wires in the markets always pose great danger to the shopkeepers, while fire incidents due to short circuit of electricity cause loss of millions of rupees to the plaza owners as well as the shopkeepers. Therefore, IESCO should address this issue on priority to save the traders from further losses. He said that 5,000 traders are doing business in the Blue Area, but there have been fire incidents 6 to 7 times due to the short circuit of electricity in this biggest commercial center of Islamabad, which have caused huge losses to the business community, so ISCO should develop its infrastructure on modern lines besides improving the wiring system in all markets. He said this while talking to while talking to Abdul Rasheed Sarki, XEN, F-6 Division of IESCO during his visit to ICCI.
Ahsan Bakhtawari said that when a transformer burns in a market, there is no back up for it and repair of burnt transformer takes many days. Due to this situation, the perishable items get spoiled causing losses to the traders. He stressed that IESCO should come up with a better solution to this problem to save the traders from further losses. He said that the repair charges of commercial transformers are too high and should be reviewed. He said that ICCI will nominate market-wise committees for F-6, F-7 and Blue Area to liaison with his office and he should fully cooperate with them for timely solution of the electricity problems of the traders in their respective areas.
Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI highlighted the issues of MDI meters and net metering faced by the business community and proposed their better solution. He said that the cabinet doors of some transformers are left open which leads to short circuits so ISCO should take steps to address this problem. He said that deep freezers, refrigerators and other appliances of traders often get burnt due to fluctuation in electricity voltage, so IESCO should look into this issue for redress.
Abdul Rasheed Sarki, XEN, ISCO’s F-6ix Division, speaking on the occasion, said that every possible effort would be made to solve the issues highlighted by the business community. He said that if any person visits markets or shops for inspection, he should be handed over to the police as ISCO has not assigned this responsibility to anyone. He welcomed the proposal of ICCI for nomination of market-wise committees to liaison with his office and assured that he will cooperate with the committee members for the early solution of the electricity-related issues of their respective markets.
Former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan Zafar Bakhtawari said that last year the total revenue of Pakistan was PKR 7500 billion while the total revenue of the electricity companies was PKR 12000 billion but still many electricity companies are incurring losses, which should be a cause of concern the government. He said that IESCO should solve the electricity problems of its customers, including the business community, on a priority basis, which will reduce the problems of the customers and improve the revenue of IESCO.
Asad Aziz President of F-7 Markaz Jinnah Supermarket, Yusuf Rajput, former President Blue Area, Sheikh Abdul Waheed, Khalid Chaudhry, Faseehullah Khan, Nasir Chaudhry and representatives of other markets also highlighted the electricity related issues of their respective areas and stressed for their early solutions.
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