Two months continuous gas closure has opened flood gates of unemployment, affecting textile exports and inflicting financial loss to the national kitty coupled with unprecedented inflation and price hike in the country.
Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain, Vice Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) North Zone, chaired a special meeting of the hosiery owners to review the ill impacts of last two month gas closure on the industries with special reference to the value added sector and carve out strategy to cope with the situation during the third month of gas closure.
The members expressed concern over gas closure and said that nation was already experiencing worst kind of inflation and price hike but all political forces were adamant to the economic problems and also failed to play their role in resolving the critical issue.
Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain said that continuous energy crisis was eroding the industrial base of the country. Gas closure to industries including value added textile sector had become a routine cycle during winter season every year, he said, adding that affected textile owners and workers came on road to record their protest. He said that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited had not taken any serious and practical step to tackle this issue.
The Ministry and Gas Company only tried to pacify the protesters without giving them any relief and ignoring the losses inflicted to the country and economy. In this connection they give frivolous reasons and stick to the policy of lip service. He was also critical of the Opposition political parties and said that PML-N and other parties fully exploited the energy crisis for their political interests but no serious effort was made inside or outside assemblies.
Zia Alamdar Hussain further said that national economy should be given top priority by all political and administrative segments but the government as well as other influential policy makers failed to play their role. It seems that they are ignorant of the importance of economy or intentionally ruining the productive industrial sector with faulty policies and mismanagement of issues.
Commenting on the sit-in of PML-N regarding Election Commission, he said they once again ignored the economy and added that without economic stability government could neither achieve the much trumpeted political slogan of progress and prosperity nor check the conspiracies hatched without any end.
He once again urged upon the government and opposition parties to create consensus at least on energy crisis that was haunting the country for the last many decades. Commenting over the prevailing situation, Asghar Ali, Chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) has criticised the SNGPL for suspending gas supply to the textile industry terming it an anti-industrial action and detrimental to country's exports and said eight weeklong gas suspension had crippled the industrial activities in Punjab and put 14 billion dollars earning sector at the brink of disaster.
PTEA Chairman Asghar Ali said that industry was totally confused as how to keep its viability intact in such a crisis like situation, as it was left without gas from eight weeks. The industry was left with no other option but to lay off millions of workers due to closure of 50 percent of the production capacity. The industry was capable to produce over a billion dollar exportable products on monthly basis but energy crisis had put its upside down, he said.
Textile industry could achieve set milestone of economic development but this sector was facing huge economic challenges because of multiple factors like energy crisis and many other core issues due to which the economy was badly suffering while trade and industry were struggling for survival.
The industry was losing its credibility fast among exporting destinations and the industrial viability was under serious threat as the industry's feasibility had been constituted on 365 days a year without a disruption of single moment but gas supply to the industry was suspended for 178 days last year.
He appreciated the decision of the government for uninterrupted power supply to textile industry and demanded the same in gas supply. PTEA Vice Chairman Muhammad Asif also feared a surge in street crimes, saying that law and order situation was bound to aggravate in the coming days as long gas suspension for industries was jacking up the graph of unemployment and was particularly hitting hard the daily wagers as most of the industrial units had stopped their production. The crisis in industrial sector was causing flight of capital and relocation of industrial units to the countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Uninterrupted gas supply was the only way to achieve economic targets set for the year 2013 but neither the government was sharing its future plans to this regard nor paying any heed to the difficulties being faced by the industry in Punjab. He said it was astonishing that on the one hand the government circles were talking of economic stability while on the other hand they were not sharing any kind of roadmap to achieve this goal.
PTEA office-bearers urged the President, Prime Minister, the Minister for Textile Industry and Adviser to the PM on Petroleum and Natural Resources to take immediate notice of this grave situation and act promptly to save industrial and economic fabric of the country.
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