KARACHI: The directorate of industries of the Sindh government has almost no discretionary powers to maintain a check upon industrial units and no longer is in a position to facilitate the implementation process of new projects and smooth operations in existing industries.
The directorate, located in the Sindh Secretariat, once a proud bastion of the state prior to 1991, today presents a deserted look with hardly a visitor to boast of, as all its functions have gradually been wound down with the advent of deregulation and free market reforms, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to sources, the industries directorate in the past not only served as a policy advisory body but also as a hub for industrial investors who wanted to establish new industrial units and overcome the hurdles in the implementation of the new projects and smooth operation of existing units.
But, since a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the directorate is no longer mandatory, the directorate has no direct means to compile data on specific industrial units and instead is solely dependant on the labour directorate, which now registers industries under the Factory Act.
The deregulation of sanctioning procedure allowed investors to establish any industry without obtaining NOC except in case of establishment of specified industries, in particular those relevant to national security, arms and ammunition, high explosive, and nuclear research materials. The establishment of alcohol manufacturer is banned except industrial alcohol units.
The directorate of industries has regional offices in Hyderabad, Kotri, Nooriabad, Dadu, Sanghar, Tando Adam, Mirpurkhas, Badin and Thatta districts. Last year, the directorate had been assigned to carry out an industry census for 2005-2010 for the Federal Bureau of Statistics and special forms were published in year 2007, distributed to the directorate of labor, mainly regarding basic information about inventories, number of workers, production, consumption of raw material, wages and exports, sources indicated.
Sources said the directorate had not been neglected with regard to development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with no effort to integrate the body as part of a larger effort to augment SME propagation. Instead, the provincial government is establishing new departments and employing new staff, a big and unnecessary drain on national exchequer. Sources voiced their firm opinion that this was redundant duplication of government services.
However, the long procurement list has now been restricted to two items – typewriters and fans. Previously, new equipment all government departments was mandatory under regulations and goods were to be inspected by directorate experts to ensure quality and suitability of the price. Over time, government departments and the city government authorities refused to allow the directorate to conduct inspections.
They informed that the inspection was now restricted to only gunny bags purchased by the food departments and vehicles used by the police department and the inspection of boilers installed in factories.
In the deregulated era, they said that directorate inspectors had been prevented from inspecting factories, their produce, consumption of raw material and other key aspects of the production process. Two major functions performed by the directorate regarding verification of raw material consumption and installation of machinery had also been absorbed by the Federal Board of Revenue.
It was clarified that a former director has submitted a report to the government calling on a fresh review of functions of the directorate and elaborated that, although a NOC need not be made mandatory, they should still be required to furnish details of degree of investment, installed capacity, raw material consumed and labour employed. It further suggested that a ban should be imposed on setting up industries in residential areas and commercial areas and no utility connection should be provided without an NOC from the directorate.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh constitutes the industrial heartland of the country, the city’s infrastructure is overstretched and the industrial sector compounds the problem. Additionally, large informal residential areas have erupted around industrial areas and breach several health and safety regulations, many small firms have moved into residential areas because of the dire lack of industrial plots. These problems constitute a serious challenge to the city government.
The directorate could play a substantial role in the alleviation of the problem, if given half a chance. SITE (Sindh Industrial Trading Estates) located in Karachi houses over 2,200 registered and unregistered industrial units of varying sizes including textiles, heavy mechanical, beverages, automobiles, silk, oil, soap, food stuffs, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, steel, glass, cigarettes, filament yarn, readymade garments.
Most of these plants are nonchalant about the pollution and the industrial sewerage flowing through open drains into the Arabian Sea, badly damaging the environment and local fauna. This is another potential role which the directorate.
