Prolonged power outages: Traders in Mansehra threaten to observe strike

MANSEHRA: The trader fraternity on Wednesday denounced the prolonged and unscheduled loadshedding and announced to go on a shutter-down strike.

“Our businesses have already been reeling because of high inflation. And are now badly affected owing to the daylong loadshedding,” Alimgeer Shah, a chairman of traders’ body in Shinkiari told reporters.

Flanked by other office-bearers, he said that traders were unanimous to observe the shutter-down strike against the prolonged and unscheduled loadshedding in Shinkiari and its suburb.

“We would observe a complete shutter-down strike today (Thursday) besides holding a protest rally as our businesses have suffered owing to prolonged loadshedding and highest-ever inflation,” Shah added.

He maintained that Peshawar Electric Supply Company suspends electricity from 9am to 4pm every alternative day apart from daily loadshedding.

Speaking on the occasion, president of the association, Zuhaib Shah, said that traders and shopkeepers couldn’t even pay the rents for their shops and business centres in such an economic turmoil.

He said that the federal government should ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply as they couldn’t bear the expenses to run the electric generators owing to a record surge in petroleum products’ prices.