PESHAWAR: Owners of marble factories in the provincial capital have threatened to stop paying bills if smooth power supply is not ensured to the industries within 24 hours.

Speaking at a news conference here on Wednesday, All Marble Tiles and Chips general secretary Himat Shah said the excessive loadshedding had brought the marble business to a standstill.

`We have no option other than to stop paying the bills because the power supply is next to nil and the industrialists are compelled to sack their workers,` he said and added the government should help them recover the financial losses.

Accompanied by other industrialists, Himat Shah said there were at least 200 factories on Warsak Road in the provincial capital, providing jobs to thousands of labourers, but the current loadshedding had forced the factory owners to lay off employees over financial constraints.

He welcomed the provincial government`s threat to protest loadshedding and said the industrialists would also join the campaign.

Mr Shah said the industrialists had requested the Wapda authorities to ensure power supply at night during Ramazan, but to no avail, adding the power was supplied at a time when not all the labourers could work due to sizzling weather.

`We held several meetings with Peshawar Electric Supply Company officials and requested them to reduce the loadshedding time during nighttime but they declined,` the association`s leader said.

The Pesco officials, he said had made a formula on their own that didn`t serve the purpose of industrialists, adding marble factory owners would devise a plan for survival of their businesses.

He said every industrialist was paying up to Rs6million taxes annually, but they were not facilitated.

Himat Shah criticised adviser to the prime minister, Engineer Amir Muqam for not listening to their concerns.