APTMA Central Chairman S M Tanveer has decided to convene the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 13, against electricity and gas supply suspension during Eid holidays. "Enough is enough," he asserted, saying that the industry is in trouble and the APTMA would protest after Eid.
He was addressing an impromptu press conference on Saturday at the APTMA Punjab House. Former APTMA Punjab chairman Shahzad Ali Khan, Senior Vice Chairman Syed Ali Ahsan and Vice Chairman Wisal Monnoo were present on the occasion. Tanveer said the SNGPL has notified suspension of gas supply from 13 to 17 October, ie for 10 days, for the Punjab-based industry besides zero electricity supply from 6 to 8 October.
He said some 35 percent production capacity of the textile industry has been shut down due to the energy crisis, particularly in Punjab where industry consumes 86 percent of the total load on PEPCO network. "I'm unable to understand that what is the fault of the Punjab-based textile mills and the mills in other parts of the country where uninterrupted energy supply is available 24/7," he said.
He questioned that why 67 percent increase in electricity cost has been burdened on the Punjab-based industry? The APTMA Chairman said the availability of the EU GSP-Plus facility led to the industry vision of doubling the textile exports from $13 billion to $26 billion. The government also put the industry on priority in energy supplies and exports geared up from January to March increased.
However, he said, the government priority changed from March onwards that played havoc with the textile industry. A supply suspension of 10 hours a day for electricity and 16 hours a day for gas has brought the exports of yarn by 25 percent and clothing by 40 percent in last five months.
"Textile exports in value term have reduced by more than one billion dollars in five months due to drop in productivity," he pointed out. He added that total drop in exports may reach to $2.3 billion in 12 months if adverse situation persists. According to him, some 3 million workers would be unemployed in case the industry is deprived of energy supply besides negative impact on backward and forward linkages right from cotton to garment industry.
As a matter of fact, he said, the whole supply chain has got affected due to energy crisis. He criticised the Secretary of Water & Power for her anti-industry approach. Will the Secretary decide about our fate, he said. NEPRA laws suggest first priority on electricity supply to the industry and there would be no more than 2 hours a day load shedding, he said and added that the Islamabad High Court has ordered to follow the NEPRA laws but to no avail.
He said the APTMA has no political linkages with any political party but it is not possible to stay silent now. Shahzad Ali Khan said he was sure that no one among the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister of Punjab or the Minister for Water & Power would be aware of the industry problems. He urged the government to save the industry by continuous energy supply.