Unprecedented and unbridled hike in the prices of cement has not only hit the whole construction industry hard but also rendered hundreds and thousands of people attached with this industry jobless. Pakistan Concrete Products Industries Association President Mian Yaqub Tahir Izhar expressed these views in a statement issued here on Wednesday.
Tahir Izhar maintained it was time for the government to intervene as if government did not take timely measures to avert that crisis-like situation it would fail all those steps aimed at giving boost to our economy. He was of the view that sharp increase of Rs 100 to Rs 150 in a short span of a few days was putting negative impact on the whole industrial sector, as the cement prices in Pakistan were much higher as compared to neighbouring countries.
He alleged cement manufacturers had reduced production of cement under the garb of annual maintenance thus giving rise to the prices of commodity. He appealed to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Federal Minister for Production to take stock of the whole situation and save the construction industry from total collapse.