The removal of existing directors of Garment City from the Board and induction of new directors in their place, as per recent decision of Garment ministry, without any intimation has been resented by Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF).
An emergency meeting of PAF held here last week regretted that seven directors out of 10 neither belong to the apparel field nor have they any stake in apparels.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of M. Naqi Bari and attended by Jawaid Bilwani, chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association; Rafiq Godil, central chairman, Pakistan Knitwear Sweaters Exporters Association; Bilal Mulla, central chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association; and Dr Shahzad Arshad, chairman, Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparel Manufacturers & Exporters Association.
The participants, who represent the entire value-added apparel sector, were surprised that they were not even consulted on this issue. "This replacement would tantamount to ruining the very objective of establishing the Garment City," they said. They have requested President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to immediately intervene in the affairs of Garment City and save it from total devastation.
They argued that people having reputation in the value-added apparel sector should have been selected as directors after consulting the real players in the field, to make it a success instead of picking up blue eyed persons from the sectors other than garments like real estate, etc.
Since the decision is going to cast a negative impact on the development of Garment City, they have requested that the replacements be withdrawn immediately and proposed that selection of directors be made purely on merit after consulting the stakeholders in the value-added apparel sector.