October 20, 2008	Monday	Shawwal 20, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 19: The Old City Traders Alliance (OCTA), Karachi, has warned that they would seize the head office of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) if the privatization agreement of the utility was not abrogated.

A meeting of the alliance was held here on Sunday to discuss the KESC’s inefficiency and the losses being suffered by traders owing to heavy load-shedding, power breakdowns and exorbitant tariff hike.

Chaired by Jameel Ahmed Paracha, the meeting was attended by Ayub Nizami, Mohammad Hussain, Hanif Katiyal, Shaikh Mohammad Bilal, Naeem Aziz and other leaders of member trade bodies.

The meeting decided to reject the electricity bills based on the new tariff, and said that traders would start using kundas (hooks) to bypass meters from Nov 1 if the KESC insisted on retaining the new rates. It also announced launching of a protest campaign against the KESC, and said traders of more than 60 markets of the old city area would take part in the drive.—Agencies