SIALKOT, Dec 26 The Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has expressed concern over 16-hour daily unscheduled load-shedding of electricity in export-oriented Sialkot city.

Talking to the newsmen at the SCCI, the SCCI President Mohammad Ishaq Butt said that unscheduled load-shedding and power failures have become a routine which has not only disturbed the daily life but also has crippled production of export industries in Sialkot.

The Gepco officials have no satisfactory reply to queries on power outages informing that it was being done from Islamabad. SCCI President stressed that Sialkot's export industries were being hit badly by this unscheduled load-shedding of power and power breakdowns due to which the production of export orders, which are time bound, is affected badly.

Similarly, domestic consumers were also facing this nasty situation due to prolonged power outages.

He said industrialists and exporters in Sialkot were making all-out sincere efforts to promote exports, considering it a national cause.

However, it was shocking that Pepco was ignoring such an important industrial city of Sialkot, where big and most modern export units are situated.

The Sialkot's soccer ball industry was also badly hit by this sudden load-shedding. It regained some of the lost foreign orders through rigorous efforts by assuring their foreign customers of delivery in time.

One reason of diversion of orders of soccer ball balls back to Sialkot is failure of India and China to fulfill the delivery schedule and lacking necessary capacity and capability.