Pakistan avril 2008

Powerloom workers continue protest against Mepco

By Our Staff Correspondent 16 avil 2008

MULTAN, April 15: On the second day of protests against loadshedding, powerloom workers facing unemployment blocked railway tracks on Tuesday.

Unlike Monday the protesters remained peaceful.

Dozens of powerloom workers gathered at the Mumtazabad railway crossing and staged a sit-in on tracks in protest against long and unscheduled power outages.

Though no train was delayed as the protesting workers lifted the siege after some time, they threatened to repeat their action on Wednesday if the power supply was not restored to powerloom units.

The Qaumi Tajir Etihad held a rally to demonstrate solidarity with the Powerloom Association and condemned registration of FIRs against office-bearers of the association.

It said that cases had been registered against 1,500 people under the Anti-Terrorism Act, but the people who had protested against loadshedding were not terrorists.

The Wapda Hydro-Electric Central Labour Union and the Wapda Employees Paigham Union also took out a procession to condemn mob attacks on offices of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco).

Holding black flags and banners, the participants blocked the LMQ Road and raised slogans against the Powerloom Association and police.

They held City District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar responsible for the riots.

They warned that if police did not arrest Khaliq Qandeel and other people involved in the attacks on Mepco offices within 10 hours, they would disconnect power supply to Multan in the first phase and later to south Punjab.

They called for reinstatement of Mepco Chief Executive Tariq Rasool. Mepco secretary Shehbaz Ahmed Khan said the company was not a power generating institution.

He said electricity was being distributed 46 per cent for domestic use, six per cent for commercial, 18 per cent for industrial units, 17 per cent for agriculture and 13 per cent for street lights.

He said that Mepco was providing electricity to powerloom units through 12 feeders of three divisions and only 15 minutes of loadshedding was being carried out.

He said that the Central Power Control Centre in Islamabad and Regional Power Control Centre were providing 11,095 megawatt electricity for south Punjab and Mepco was facing a daily shortage of 634 MW.

He said that Multan was facing a shortage of 121 MW while in peak hours from 6pm to 11pm Mepco was facing a shortage of 245 MW for the city.

Powerloom Association general secretary Khaliq Qandeel said they had decided not to launch any protest in future.

He said that the association had no concern with Tuesday’s protests at Mumtazabd railway crossing.

Multan RPO Mirza Mohammad Ali held a meeting with Mepco officials, local politicians, representatives of Powerloom Associations and traders to discuss the law and order situation.

He said that police would investigate arrested people and those found guiltless would be released.

Multan rocked by power riots

15 avril 2008

By Shakeel Ahmad

MULTAN, April 14: At least 58 people were injured and two offices of the Multan Electric Supply Corporation and one of Nadra, a bank branch and several vehicles, including a police van, were set on fire after a rally against power outages turned into a riot.

Nine motorcycles and a jeep were among the torched vehicles while several other vehicles and buildings were damaged.

The rally initially comprised textile workers and labourers associated with the Power Looms Association, which was later joined by ordinary people as it made its way through the city.

Protesters carried banners and shouted slogans against Mepco. They said that they had been suffering power outages lasting 18 hours every day.

The protest turned violent when it reached the Gulburg locality where people torched a Mepco office and lit bonfires out of office furniture and record. Vehicles parked in the office compound were also damaged.

The protesters, who had by then increased in numbers, turned towards the Mepco headquarters situated at the Khanewal Road and burnt the building. The mob also set on fire a police van, nine motor bikes, a branch of the Punjab Bank, one jeep inside the perimeter of the Mepco headquarters.

When the protestors tried to enter the residential area of the power utility’s headquarters, security guards opened fire, injuring a few of them. A cameraman and a reporter of a private TV channel were also injured during the incident.

Protesters kept the Khanewal Road blocked and police and protesters clashed for more than four hours after which police used teargas shells and baton-charge to disperse the mob.

Mepco staff overpowered and detained about 35 of the protesters who had entered the building and later handed them over to the police.

The city has more than 6,000 powerloom units and about 500,000 people depend on them for their livelihood.

The Powerlooms Association had earlier warned that it would hold protests against lengthy power cuts. During the past several months, the city has been facing lengthy power outages every day.

Mepco’s Public Relation Officer Jamshaid Niazi said that more than 500 protesters were led by Bashir Ahmed Pehelwan, the president of the Powerlooms Association. He accused the president of the association and other office-bearers of having deliberately disconnected power supply to provoke the people.

He said that police did not try to stop the protesters and by the time they attacked Mepco headquarters, their numbers had swelled by more than 2,000 people.

He said that 28 Mepco staffers had been injured in the riot while the company sustained damages worth Rs7.5 million.

Khaliq Qandeel Ansari, the association’s general secretary, said that protesters were not involved in violence.

He said that more than 30 powerloom workers had been injured while police had arrested 46 members of the association, adding that police had refused to register an FIR against people who had fired at the protesters.

Mirza Mohammad Ali, the Additional Inspector-General of Police and Regional Police Officer, said in a press conference that police had arrested 50 people and an FIR had been lodged.

AFP adds: “Our workers and labourers are forced to starve,” Mr Qandeel said. “Due to the power cuts there is no work,” he said.