All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Punjab Zone members have strongly condemned non-friendly business policy of Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL).
In a general body meeting of (Aptma) held here on Thursday, members rejected the load management and disconnection policy being undertaken by electricity and gas companies.
Members claimed that SNGPL has unilaterally stopped following the decision of Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) which called for closure for maintenance of fertiliser factories during severe shortage and disconnection of general industry at par with textile industry. Members demanded that fertiliser factories, especially in Lahore region, which has been worst hit, should be closed for maintenance immediately.
Aptma has asked SNGPL to restore gas supply to textile mills in Punjab by undertaking a load management programme in consultation with Aptma. Aptma has said that according to ECC decision, load shedding should be equitably distributed, in a transparent manner, including general industry.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association has also expressed concern over unprecedented load shedding in electric supply to the textile mills of Punjab. The new year has started with over 12 hours of load shedding per day to textile mills.
Aptma is working with the utility companies - Lesco and Pepco - to discuss and resolve the load shedding and to control the damage being to the industry. Aptma regrets that lack of planning and proper implementation of government agencies responsible for energy crisis, over the last decade that has brought the industry to the verge of collapse.
The entire system, including the IPPs, is running on a hand to mouth basis and is unable to sustain even minimal shocks. The industry fails to understand that while hundreds of billions of rupees are being spent on grandiose schemes whose benefit will accrue in distant future, urgently needed infrastructure that has not been constructed.
Aptma has appealed to the government to save the industry from total disaster. The losses suffered by an already crisis ridden industry will render it unable to service the bank loans. The government must take steps immediately to compensate the losses suffered by the industry, and should ask banks to declare a moratorium on repayment for two years. Adding the government should also ask the utility companies to prepare for shortages in such a way where industry can shut down on a revolving basis instead of entire industry suffering on a daily basis.