By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The federal government directed markets and shopping malls across the country, except in Sindh province, to shut by 8 p.m. starting Tuesday as part of a broad energy-conservation drive aimed at easing pressure from rising fuel costs and supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.
The measure was announced late on Monday in a statement from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office following a high-level meeting he chaired in Islamabad. It reflects a coordinated effort by the federal and most provincial governments to curb non-essential energy use amid the fallout from US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began Feb. 28 and have severely disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that once carried nearly a quarter of the world’s oil shipments.
Markets in the divisional headquarters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will be permitted to remain open until 9 p.m., the statement said, after consultations with the provincial government. Shops selling daily-use items and departmental stores will also be required to close by 8 p.m. Bakeries, restaurants, tandoors and other food outlets will close at 10 p.m., as will marriage halls, marquees and similar venues used for wedding ceremonies. The restrictions extend to private homes and properties, where wedding events will not be allowed to continue past 10 p.m.
Medical stores and pharmacies were exempted from the new rules. The decisions align with business-hour restrictions announced a day earlier by the governments of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The prime minister’s office said Sharif expressed gratitude to the chief ministers of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, as well as the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, for reaching consensus on what he called a matter of “national importance.” He voiced hope that Sindh, after completing its own consultations with stakeholders, would join the effort.
A separate statement from the Sindh chief minister’s office said Murad Ali Shah met Monday with representatives of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry and other business groups to discuss possible market timings. Shah told the business leaders that “all of us will have to play our roles in view of the country’s situation” and that the provincial government was determined to pursue energy conservation while ensuring the poorest bore the least burden. He said traders’ associations had submitted recommendations on timings, which would be reviewed before the premier was briefed.
The federal measures also include free inter-city public transport in Gilgit and Muzaffarabad for one month, with the federal government covering all costs. The energy-conservation push comes against the backdrop of a widening fuel crisis. The prime minister’s office noted that the government has already begun providing relief on petroleum purchases through a digital-wallet subsidy initiative; one transaction of 100,000 rupees under the program has already been processed.
In a separate event on Monday, Sharif underscored the need for a faster shift to environment-friendly electric vehicles to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel and protect its foreign reserves. Addressing a ceremony at which the Interior Ministry handed over 15 electric vehicles to the Islamabad Traffic Police, the prime minister said the initiative should be replicated by all law enforcement agencies and provinces.
Each of the new vehicles can travel 350 to 400 kilometers on a full charge. Fast charging takes 60 to 90 minutes, while standard charging requires six to eight hours. Officials told Sharif that each electric vehicle is expected to save up to 550,000 rupees per month compared with a petrol-powered counterpart and will recover its procurement cost within 13 to 14 months. The prime minister described the handover as a significant step with a positive impact on the country’s foreign reserves and said similar energy-saving measures were essential given the spiraling global petroleum prices triggered by the regional conflict.
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