THE last few weeks had been tough both for the domestic and industrial consumers due to prolonged and unannounced power outages which badly affected the routine life.
Finally the government has moved and taken some measures to reduce the outages. Following restoring the weekly off on Saturday, the federal government from the platform of National Economic Council has now decided closure of markets across the country at 8.30 pm.
As the provincial governments have agreed with the move in principle, there should not be any delay in implementation of this decision.
The very opposition by All Pakistan Traders Association to the early closure of markets is totally uncalled-for and holds no basis.
In fact, nowhere in the world, markets open at eleven or twelve noon and then close at midnight.
In most of the countries including the developed world, the markets start closing with the sunset because they start the day early.
Our business community will also have to bring this positive change in their behaviour. This will not at all affect their sale levels as the customers will also adjust their timings accordingly.
Pakistan is producing most of its electricity from the imported fuel and given the soaring prices of petroleum products in the world market, it is need of the hour to conserve the energy by fully utilizing the day light which in fact will also bring down the electricity bills of shopkeepers.
Separately Minister for Power Khurram Dastagir whilst addressing a news conference assured to provide uninterrupted power supply to the industries.
Pakistan is already faced with dire economic situation and closure of industries or lack of production due to power outages will only further worsen the situation.
By ensuring gas and electricity supplies to the industries, we can meet the export orders and earn the valuable foreign exchange.
At the same time, the repair of faulty power plants must be completed at the earliest to bring down the power shortfall.
The government must also consider exploiting the indigenous resources including water, solar and wind to produce cheap electricity for the benefit of consumers.
This will also significantly reduce our import bill.
