Textile sector: Factories defy reduced gas consumption plan

Industrialists slam outages, complain about low gas pressure.

FAISALABAD:

Textile factory owners of Faisalabad refused to follow the reduced gas consumption plan and continued to operate their units on Wednesday.

Almost all 450 textile units of Faisalabad remained open during the day, despite the fact that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had issued a notification for a three-day closure of factories from April 13 to 15.

Industrialists also announced that they would stage a demonstration at SNGPL’s regional headquarters today (Thursday) against the drop in gas pressure.

In some of the areas like Khurrianwala, Maqbool road and Jaranwala, factory owners complained about low gas pressure, resulting in a 50 per cent reduction in their overall production.

Speaking at a news conference, Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association Chairman Saeed Sheikh, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry former president Abdul Qayyum and leaders of other textile associations announced their future line of action against gas shortages.

Textile tycoons made it clear that they would not accept gas outages for factories and would continue business activities under all circumstances, claiming that during the last four months about 50,000 industrial workers had become unemployed, while jobs of another 50,000 were at stake.

According to them, many of the industries had reached on the verge of bankruptcy due to the power crisis, but government officials were serving as silent spectators.

Sheikh and his colleagues criticised the role of parliamentarians of Faisalabad, saying that none of these officials had approached them to resolve the crisis. They warned that unless the government changed its attitude, the economy would remain under threat.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th,  2011.