Thousands of jobless textile workers staged protestation here on Thursday in front of their closed industrial units in Khurrianwala Industrial Estate, while industries' owners and exporters staged demonstration at Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) head office to express their resentment against the total disconnection of gas supply to the textile sector.
Talking to newsmen, senior member of PTEA and FPCCI, Azhar Majeed Sheikh said that due to the disconnection of gas supply by SNGPL, the textile industry suffered loss of Rs35 billion in one day.
Elaborating his argument, he said that printing and processing of cloth is a continuous process and if the gas supply is disconnected the chemically treated cloth is wasted. Imported and sensitive textile machinery worth billions of rupees is also being affected due to this disruption, he added.
Earlier, addressing the demonstrators at PTEA, the leaders of businessmen and industrialists were unanimously of the view that discriminatory attitude is being adopted against Faisalabad Industry as there was no gas disruption in Karachi industries. Most of the speakers apprehended that their potential foreign customers would divert their export orders to India, Bangladesh and China.
Mian Tahir Ishaque Bharara Chairman, Mian Muhammad Zahid Aslam former Chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Chaudhry Muhammad Saleem Akhtar, Senior Vice President, Mian Javed Iqbal former president Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mian Ajmal Farooq, Senior Vice Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (Faisalabad Region), Chaudhry Muhammad Saddique, Ahmad Kamal, Azhar Majeed Shiekh, former chairmen, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmad, Chairman Faisalabad Garments City, representatives of Khurrianwala Industrial Estate Faisalabad, Pakistan Sizing Industries Association, Small Traders Association and other Yarn Dealers also addressed the meeting.
They said that the current load-shedding and gas crisis besides rendering thousands of workers jobless is also damaging image of Pakistan at international level. Meanwhile, Chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on Industry, Muhammed Idrees expressed grave concern over the "frequent and long unscheduled" load-shedding and total disconnection of gas in Punjab.
He said that the situation besides affecting the production process, is also causing colossal damages to the plant and machinery. Instead of giving any relief, MDI charges are being imposed on industries, he pointed out.
He said that under the prevailing conditions, the government should not charge any MDI from the industries for these abnormal shutdowns, thus giving some relief to the industries.
Negotiations between SNGPL and Faisalabad industrialists' Action Committee are underway, however, gas supply to the affected industries has not been restored so far.