HYDERABAD: The Hyder­a­bad Chamber of Comm­erce and Industry (HCCI) criticised Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastagir for not meeting with the business community’s leaders and media during his visit to the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) headquarters on Wednesday.

HCCI president Adeel Siddiqui asked what the purpose of his visit to Hyderabad was if the minister did not have time to meet the business community’s leaders.

He said the community would have explained situation to him. But, he said, the government was not serious.

He said it appeared even the Hesco chief was not being taken seriously by his own subordinate staff. “I have been approaching the Hesco boss for the past five days and he has issued directives to the SDO, but he is not complying with it,” he remarked.

He said traders and shopkeepers asked the HCCI leadership as to who would meet the energy requirement of shopping centres. They paid money for transformers which developed faults again, he said.

He asked what the purpose of that ministry and government was if they did not have time to meet electricity consumers.

Meanwhile, the Hesco spokesman’s press release did not attribute a single word to the federal minister as if he had remained silent throughout the briefing given to him.

Hesco chief Noor Mohammad Soomro claimed that all directives given by the federal government had been complied with and this had no precedence.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022