All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has warned that it will launch a countrywide strike, if the gas supply would not be restored to the industry forthwith. Aptma Chief, Mohsin Aziz while talking to this scribe on Friday said that activities in industries have come to a complete halt in the country due to acute gas shortages.
He expressed grave concern over suspension of gas supply to the industry, particularly to Punjab, where the industry was hit hard by gas load shedding and productivity has come to a complete halt.
He said that on the one hand, there was hue and cry about the declining foreign exchange earnings and increasing unemployment in the country, while on the other hand the industry was earning a foreign exchange for the national exchequer and was providing employment to millions was systematically chocked to death by gas and electricity loadshedding and a astronomical bank interest rates.
Commenting on the recent report of State Bank of Pakistan, he said that the steep decline in spinning and finishing industries has resulted in 36 percent drop in export quantitative figure and expected export decline of more than $2 billion by the end of the year. He said, the industry was facing presently a 30 percent production loss and would soon turn into sick units. Aziz said that it was a strange that the bread and butter earner of the nation, which are industries, were being strangulated. He said the present policy was formed to deprive the working class of their bread and feeding gas to vehicles worth millions of rupees driven by mill owners. Aptma chief was of the view that present policies were forcing the industrialists to close down their industries.
He warned that if the genuine demands of Aptma were not accepted and their mills were forced to close down they would have no option but to resort to hunger strike to show solidarity with the starving workers. Aptma chief urged the President Zardari, and Prime Minister Gilani to help the sector for saving it from further destruction.