FAISALABAD: Power loom owners have announced that they will set up a protest camp here on November 21 against imposition of new taxes, energy outages and constant increase in electricity and fuel prices.
Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Council of Loom Owners Association Chairman Waheed Khalid Ramay said the sizing industry was already reeling from expensive inputs and high cost of doing business and the condition for registered manufacturers, importers and exporters to take Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) number and National Tax Number (NTN) of unregistered traders while dealing with them had added to their woes. He said severe power and gas outages made it difficult for the industrialists to continue business activities and a constant increase in petroleum product prices was forcing them to close their units.
He said if industrial units were shut, a flood of unemployed people would emerge, which would spark social disorder and create law and order situation in the country.
He said the government should direct the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to withdraw SRO-821 which dealt with the CNIC and NTN condition, adding the protest would remain continue by the time the demand was accepted.
Other industrialists also demanded that the government withdraw immediately “all illegal and anti-industry” taxes and levies, otherwise they would start a strong protest campaign in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2011.
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