Industries suffer production losses: Power shutdown
By Aamir Shafaat Khan
KARACHI, Feb 12: Industrialists in the Site industrial area have been facing problems in running their businesses because of faulty transmission and distribution system of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), causing several hours load shedding for the last few months.
Industrialists say that they are incurring production and revenue losses of millions of rupees per day.
"I have raised the issue of load-shedding with the KESC high-ups but to no avail," the chairman, Site Association of Industry, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig told Dawn on Saturday adding "industries in Site area have been facing eight-hour load shedding each day."
He said that he feels very awkward that despite being one of the members of the KESC's board of directors he could not rectify the situation.
He said that for the last few months, the industries have been facing long-hour load-shedding daily. "I have asked the MD KESC to take serious notice of the power shortage in the area as the exporters are failing to meet their export commitment besides facing huge production losses," he added.
The total revenue from this estate in terms of goods, services, taxes, duties, and wages, etc., is estimated at Rs2 billion daily. Equally important is the fact that about 500,000 people are directly employed, while thousands are indirect beneficiaries of this estate.
Karachi contributes 65 per cent of the total revenue of the country out of which the share of SITE is nearly 40 per cent. Hence, this estate provides more than a quarter of the entire collection of the National Treasury.
Baig said that the current business environment has changed as the foreign buyers, especially of textile products, have stopped waiting for Pakistani buyers' shipments after the end of quota from January 1, 2005. Foreign buyers have now got open options to buy products from any country in the post-quota scenario. In such a challenging situation, export-oriented industries need uninterrupted power supplies to meet the buyers' requirement in making timely shipments.
He informed the KESC MD that the load-shedding was also causing damage to latest and expensive machineries, equipments and computer systems.
Meanwhile, sources in Site Industrial area said that out of 59 feeders in SITE area, 85 per cent feeders are victim of overloading and tripping, which result into frequent breakdowns after two to three hour interval.
Former vice president of the FPCCI and member Site Association, Engr M.A. Jabbar, who has also a industrial unit in Site area, said that the KESC has resorted to long duration shutdowns and load shedding, cutting the active working hours of industry.
He said that the KESC has been resorted to load shedding due to fault in extra high tension cable and litigation coming in the way of earlier commissioning of 220 kv overhead transmission lines passing through roads and near and over factories violating the safety rules and standards. The Site Area itself consumes about more than 75 million units of electricity per month.
A three hour interruption/ shutdown of power for industrial consumption would mean 40 per cent production loss per month, he added.
Jabbar said said Nepra has done nothing to penalize the utility against the non-compliance of performance standards set by regulator.
The KESC has been living on the funds of tax payers taking more than Rs15 billion a year from budgetary measures for many years with no improvement in line losses.
