PESHAWAR: Traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa staged a protest on the call of the All Pakistan Tanzeem Tajiran against the budget and electricity tariffs.
In Peshawar, the demonstration was led by Anjuman Tajiran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Malik Mehr Elahi and saw a large turnout of traders.Representatives from various trade bodies, including the Sarhad Traders Alliance, Pakistan People’s Traders, Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association, Car Dealers Association, Wedding Halls Association, Hindkowan Foundation, Pishori Karwan Foundation, Jamiat Business Forum, and Property Dealers Association, attended the protest.
The protesters criticised the budget as anti-trader and rejected the increase in electricity tariffs and new taxes.They argued that the government had now made electricity unaffordable for the lower strata of society.
The speakers said that the high cost of living were pushing the poor towards desperation and suicide.The traders argued that no investor would move to a country with costly electricity. They feared the present investors would shift capital out of the country.
They said Independent Power Producers (IPPs) were being paid in dollars to benefit a specific segment of the country, asserting that while the country’s need was 20,000 megawatts, IPPs were paid for 48,000 megawatts.
The speakers said that NEPRA had admitted that electricity meters were 30 percent faster than their original metering, causing undue charges. They said that poor people were paying for the elites of the country.The protesters demanded a reconsideration of the IPP agreements and called for a bill to be passed in Parliament to end all perks for elites, including government officials.