Textile millers have termed the one-day increase in gas outages for the industry a deliberate attempt to shatter the export business and said this will cause a loss of Rs1 billion a day in export earnings and value addition.
Briefing the media after chairing a joint meeting of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) and other trade bodies here on Saturday, PTEA Chairman Asghar Ali criticised the plea taken by gas suppliers that cold weather had squeezed the supply.
This could not be accepted because weather had not yet touched the critical point, he said and described the matter as “mismanagement”.
“More than 300 industrial units and over 1.5 million textile workers will be affected by this shortage of basic fuel.”
Earlier, the gas supply managers worked out a loadshedding schedule for two days a week and the industrialists and exporters accordingly set their production programme and made commitments to foreign buyers, he said. “But all of a sudden, the duration of outages was increased to three days a week without consultation.”
This half a week closure would lead to a drastic reduction in manufacturing of export goods and the exporters would not be able to meet their commitments to foreign buyers, he said.
The textile millers have formed a joint committee to draw the next line of action to cope with the “emerging gas crisis”.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.
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