All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has objected the ongoing load shedding ranging from four to six hours for the Textile Industry, which is contrary to the understanding and assurances given by Pepco/Wapda to the textile industry in various meetings.
It was very clearly assured that load shedding would be reduced in the first week of April 2009, Aptma said. The textile sector is being made the scapegoat of merciless load shedding by Pepco. During the past one and half years the industry was forced to endure unprecedented load shedding, adding that in the present scenario the textile industry will not be able to come out of crisis.
Highlighting the apprehension Aptma said that the balance is incurring huge losses, which are being compounded by massive load shedding. Load shedding continues to date with no end in sight. Millions of jobs of labourers are at stake, which could result in labour unrest and increase in law and order problems due to loss of jobs.
The energy supply and economic growth are inextricably linked. Textile mills dependent solely on Pepco for their energy requirement are defaulting on their commitments which include salaries, bank payments, and timely completion of export orders. Once again the government is urged to accord due priority to this sector and immediately exempt the textile industry from further load shedding.