KIF protests unavailability of basic amenities

KARACHI: The Karachi Industrial Forum (KIF), a joint action committee of the trade and industrial associations of Karachi, has started a series of protests and press conferences in the different industrial areas of Karachi in an effort to draw the attention of the provincial and federal government towards the non availability of basic amenities throughout the city.
After the initial press conference and protest at press club on 10th March, KIF held press conferences on 12th March at SITE Association, on 17th March at Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, and on 19th March at Federal B Area Association of Trade and Industry.
Jawed Ali Ghori, President Federal B Area Association of Trade and Industry briefed the participants with regard to the apathy of the federal and provincial governments, the civic agencies and utility companies in resolving the problems faced by the industries in Karachi. He said despite press conferences and protests by the industries, no one from the government had contacted them to understand the serious issues being faced by the industries.
Problems of these industrial areas include water shortage, irregular power supply and low gas pressure. These are issues which directly affect production. “None of the industries are working at optimum capacity and this is a great loss for the country,” he said.
Ghori said K Electric was only out to victimize the consumers and make money from them.
“Notices of discontinuation of services have been served to the industrial consumers on all types of pretexts,” he said. “Instead of facilitating the industries, K. Electric has taken every opportunity to harass the consumers.”
The roads in the Industrial area and those leading to and from the markets/port/airports are damaged and choked with traffic. Therefore, movement of goods is delayed.
He added that fire is a great hazard for the industries and many factories have burned down due to delayed response by the fire brigade who at times do not even have water to put out the fire. “The need to equip the fire brigade with latest equipment is long overdue,” he said.
Jawed Bilwani, spokesperson for KIF informed that the forum was formed as a joint action platform of the trade associations of Karachi to highlight the issues of the industries.
He appealed to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister Sindh to take notice of the dilemma of the industries and give necessary instructions to the concerned functionaries to resolve the issues as soon as possible.