A strong lobby in All Pakistan Textile Mills (APTMA) is out to manipulate the election 2017-18 of the association and deprive KP Region of its turn for the top slot of the body. The APTMA KP Region has fielded Ahmad Kuli Khan Khattak of Bibojee Group of Companies for the office of the central chairmanship. But, another candidate, Shahzad Ayub of M/s Zainab Textile Mills Limited, Industrial Estate Hattar has also jumped into the election array in violation of the election procedure laid down in Memorandum and Articles of the Association of APTMA.
According to Memorandum and Articles of the Association, the aspiring candidate is required to submit his nomination papers either with Regional Office or directly with Principal Office (PO), Karachi. But, Shahzad Ayub instead of filing nomination papers in PO Karachi or KP Region Peshawar submitted nominations with Punjab Region Office, Lahore.
Sources in KP textile sector has said that Zainab Textiles Mills have suspended operations since the last two years or so and the entire machinery of Zainab Textile Mills Ltd has already been sold out and the buyer has already shifted almost all the machinery from the mill premises. Furthermore, SNGPL has already disconnected their gas connection due to non-payment of dues and the owner of the mills are actively seeking quotations from parties for selling the mill's remaining assets including land.
The APTMA members from KP Region had objected to the filing of the nominations of Shahzad Ayub with Punjab Regional Office. However, the election committee of APTMA which is in the grip of that powerful lobby is giving different justifications.
The election commission of APTMA is used to be comprised of three members ie Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh+Balochistan and Punjab, while chairman of the committee always remained a representative of the later. Interestingly KP Region also nominated its representative on election commission and principal office also notified it, but very soon he was de-notified through issuing a revised notification to keep KP out of the panel.
KP has a few textile mills which already operate under very difficult circumstances. They lie outside the cotton growing belt which leads to higher freight costs bringing raw material to the mills. They also face unique security challenges which other provinces don't. It is the right of any member of the KP APTMA to run for central chairmanship after 6 years.
Member mills are facing energy reliability problems, high RLNG prices in Punjab region, imposition of GIDC, Sales tax refund issues and dumping of Indian yarn. Ahmad Kuli KhaKhattak is a firm believer that a united APTMA can effectively lobby for its rights and as a previous chairman of APTMA brings valuable experience to the table.