Textile exporters, manufacturers, processors, hosiery manufacturers and traders have emphasised the need to share the energy shortage on equitable basis across the board in the best interest of country and to save investment of billions dollars.
Addressing a meeting with the elected members of National and Provincial Assembly, they announced that textile industry of Punjab cannot survive if 5 days uninterrupted gas supply was not ensured to value-added, labour intensive, export-oriented textile industry, otherwise textile exporters, manufacturers, processors, hosiery manufacturers are ready to voluntarily surrender keys of their industrial Units.
Asghar Ali, Chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain, Vice Chairman, PHMA (North Zone), Mian Zahid Aslam, President, FCCI, Imran Mehmood, Chairman, APBUMA, Rizwan Ashraf, Regional Chairman, APTEPMA and other speakers stated that no gas supply to value- added textile sector of Punjab has crippled whole textile industry. The owners of textile industry have become victim of wrong priorities and it is impossible to continue operations in the prevailing circumstances. The nature of our continuous process is such that gas is a basic necessity not luxury, operation without gas supply is simply impossible. The gas supply situation is getting worse every day and this now become disastrous for Punjab Industry, they added.
The leaders of the business community mentioned that the billions of dollars investment and market share developed in last 2 decades are being vanished. The real stakeholders in entire textile value chain worst hit by energy crisis.
They mentioned that the energy crisis is yielding negative impact over the textile dector of Punjab, resultantly, textile export growth to less capacity utilisation, no major investment entered in textile industry. Loss of new employment and loss of revenue is increasing day-by-day, while trade deficit is not bridging the gap.
They said that the gas supply to textile industry in Punjab was 39 percent of our requirement in 2012 and only 27 percent in 2013. Discrimination within Pakistan, Sindh getting Gas supply 6 days a week (85pc), while Punjab getting 2 days a week (27pc) and no concrete strategy to cope with the situation, the added and mentioned that the international commitments being dishonoured the Pakistan exporters and manufacturers. We are forced to a situation where we have no other choice but to close down our factories and lay-off all the labour, they added.
Rana Sana Ullah Khan, Punjab Law Minister said that the gas shortage is so severe, resultantly, people and Industrialists are facing so many problems. Stake holders should be given time to the government for implementing the 100 days programme so that energy crisis should be solved, he stressed. In this meeting, the MNAs and MPAs also addressed the meeting.