PTEA to launch protest if power crisis not resolved

28 Dec '12

2 min read

Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) has threatened to stop paying Government duties and launch protest on December 29, if the Government fails to resolve the ongoing gas and power crisis issue by December 28.

Government’s indifferent behaviour is the main cause of the problem, which is badly hitting the national textile sector, PTEA Chairman Asghar Ali said while speaking at a press conference.

Underscoring that millions of workers in the country depend on the US$ 14 billion textile industry for their livelihood, Mr. Ali said if the problem is not resolved, they would first launch a protest at Khurrianwala Industrial Estate at Faisalabad, Punjab on the morning of December 29.

In the second phase, they would carry out protest marches throughout the city of Faisalabad on December 31.

The third phase would involve closure of all industrial units and all textile mill owners would stop paying government duties.

Hosiery Manufacturers Association Vice Chairman Syed Zia Alamdar said textile industry is an important foreign exchange earner for the country, but if the Government does not recognize its importance they are ready to shut their units.

Around 80 percent of the textile industries in Pakistan are concentrated in Punjab and ignoring these industries amounts to sidelining a substantial portion of the country’s textile industry, Mr. Alamdar said and added that the ongoing crisis would curtail exports by about 25 percent.

Khurrianwala Industrial Estate Association Chairman Khurram Mukhtar said the severe power and gas crisis would halt the country’s textile exports, which may result in textile entrepreneurs and workers launching protests across all leading textile centres of Punjab.

Continued energy crisis is expected to impact over 2.5 million workers employed in around 450 industrial units. Closure of these industrial units resulting would result in high redundancy and may even hamper the law and order situation, he added.

Calling on the Government to initiate measures to ensure sufficient power and gas supply for textile industry, he said a textile mill has to operate 24x7 all round the year to be viable, which is not possible in the present situation.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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