Pakistan: JI threatens to hold protest, besiege Pesco offices over loadshedding in Haripur

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], February 20 (ANI): Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has threatened to hold protests on the streets and surround the offices of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) if it does not provide uninterrupted power supply to the residents of Haripur district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported.
JI Haripur emir Tahir Atiq Siddiqui made the announcement while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. Earlier, he hosted a reception in honour of the newly-elected body of Haripur Press Club, which was attended by JI district general secretary Qazi Tanzeelur Rehman and others.
Siddiqui said unannounced loadshedding were being conducted by Pesco officials twice a week across the district for the past few months, which had affected small businesses, according to Dawn report.
He said, "The daily wagers serving at welding shops, grinding machines, marble factories, tailors' shops and other small industries are the worst hit as the eight hours power outage deprives them of daily earning."
Tahir Atiq Siddiqui warned the Pesco authorities of taking to the streets and surrounding its offices if they did not stop loadshedding immediately. He condemned the lack of implementation of Minimum Wage Act in the industrial units of Haripur and not giving the workers a monthly salary of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 36,000), Dawn reported.
He also slammed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) provincial government for making the Haripur Tehsil Municipal Administration bankrupt as the civic body had not even disbursed salaries to its employees, forcing them to stage protests.
Siddiqui termed the federal government's claim of controlling the inflation a mere jugglery of words, saying not a single daily use item had witnessed a reduction in its price. He further said the price of sugar had increased by PKR 40 during the past few days. (ANI)