Dir’s wooden furniture sector needs govt support

Factory owners demand end to timber smuggling to Punjab

The furniture cluster of Dir has been a victim of government negligence despite the fact that it provides employment to around 15,000 people.

Furniture manufacturing is at least a century-old craft in the region due to the abundant supply of quality apricot wood locally and currently there are at least 800 furniture workshops or factories in Dir Upper district.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the owner of a local furniture factory, Islam Ghani said that furniture is made of apricot wood in Dir Upper which has been in great demand in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi as well as Multan but despite this there is no help from the government to further develop the sector on modern lines and turn it into world-class enterprise.

“The basic thing is availability of high
quality apricot wood which is being smuggled to Punjab on a large scale leaving us with very little wood,” he said, adding that because of smuggling the prices of wood have also been on the rise constantly.

“This wood is considered the best in the world. It can easily survive a century if regularly polished and maintained,” he said, adding that because of the durability of the wood, furniture produced in Dir is in high demand.

“Police, district administration and forest department constantly harass the owners and workers and furniture factories but the timber mafia enjoy a complete free hand,” he said, adding that the wood is openly smuggled to Punjab.

“We pay high taxes on furniture which makes our product very expensive and people hesitate to buy it. Materials are very expensive too as a result our factories do not operate at full capacity as a result thousands of workers have been affected,” he remarked.

Another factory owner said that the electricity prices were going up constantly which was also a contributing factor in the higher prices of wooden furniture made in Dir and government should provide incentives to the cluster which could provide more jobs if supported properly.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2023.