Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Wednesday opposed conversion of Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate (KKIE) into a residential society and said that it would deprive millions of people of their jobs.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad expressed these views while talking to a delegation of Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate at Lahore Chamber of Commerce. He said that the decision to establish residential colony at Kahna Kacha Industrial area would affect the economy of the province.
He urged the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to shelve the plan of sacrificing the Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate for the sake of residential scheme as this initiative would result in closure of hundreds of industrial units and huge loss to national exchequer in term of taxes and utility bills etc.
Over 100 industrial units at Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate were providing employment to thousands of workers and also bringing in precious foreign exchange, he said.
Arshad said that industrial estates and free zones always attract local and foreign investment and contribute in economic development of any country. They make a vital contribution to the national exports besides generating huge employment opportunities, he added.
In the present scenario when country was struggling to enhance exports, he added, collapse of Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate would further aggravate the situation. He said that the LDA should have taken business and industrialist community into confidence before serving notices to the industrialists of Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate.
Sheikh Arshad urged Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to take notice of the situation and save Kahna Kacha Industrial Estate.
