Gas supply suspension to 300 textile units in Punjab
Local Friday, October 23rd, 20092.5m workers to march on Nov 1
APTMA chief says workers will come on street if demand not met
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association has threatened to take 2.5 million workers on the road if the federal government will not restore gas supply to 300 textile units in Punjab and NWFP till November 1.
“The government should implement the Textile Policy 2009-14 to save 200 million people who are linked with the industry,” said APTMA Chairman Gohar Ejaz while addressing The Post Forum.
Gohar was accompanied by APTMA Vice Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Akber and Chairman Energy Committee Shahzad Ali Khan.
The APTMA chairman said that 400 textile units would be closed down if the government did not enforce the new textile policy, rendering 2.5 million people as jobless. He maintained that Sui Northern Gas Pipe-lines Ltd (SNGPL) suspended gas supply to 300 textile mills for five months.”We will have no other option but to shut down 400 units unless the government implements the new textile policy,” said the chairman APTMA, adding that the government would be responsible for leaving millions of people jobless. He maintained that the SNGPL suspended supply to its 90 per cent APTMA members in Punjab and NWFP even in the third week of October when the over all gas demand is hanging between 1,600-1,650MMCFD while shortfall is only 160-165MMCFD.
Gohar demanded the government implement the Textile Policy initiatives regarding supply of gas to the textile industry by upgrading the priority of gas supply at 2nd place in the Natural Gas Allocation and Management Policy 2005.
He expressed concern over the gas curtailment of 165MMCFD of the textile industry in the Punjab in October, as the winter has not set in yet.
The textile industry will lose export of $1-2 billion per month as textile mills will not be able to fulfil export orders for Christmas and spring, added Gohar.
“It is high time for the textile industry to get out of recession as the demand for textiles is increasing. Once the orders are lost, international buyers will not depend on us even for the next years,” Gohar said, adding that already 90% of the knitwear industry in Punjab with $ 2 billion export has closed due to militancy and security concerns.
The APTMA chairman said the government has failed to implement the 2nd priority of the textile industry in the priority list of Natural Gas Allocation and Management Policy as recommended in the Textile Policy 2009-14. It is an opportune time to implement the recommendations.
He called upon the federal government and the SNGPL to exempt textile industry from gas curtailment and due priority be given to the Export Oriented Textile Industry.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice-chairman Sheikh Muhammad Akber laid stress on promoting gas saver home appliances country saying more than 600MMCFD of gas can be saved during the season.
He also demanded the government give subsidy on gas saver home appliances and launch an awareness campaign among masses to keep the wheel moving.
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on Oct 23 2009. Filed under