FAISALABAD: As a result of gas shutdowns, the trade organisations of Faisalabad under the umbrella of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) have announced a series of hunger strikes, protest rallies, processions and sits-in throughout the city from today (Monday) as thousands of industrial workers are given termination notices causing a large-scale unemployment.
The decision was taken in an extraordinary meting of traders and business community held at FCCI at the end of a two-day ultimatum that has lapsed. Following the closure of Zamzama Gas Field, causing a shortfall of 400 cubic feet, industrial organisations of Faisalabad-based textile manufacturers and exporters have threatened the government to lock out their industrial units if the decision of Sui Northern Gas Company to introduce a three-day weekly loadshedding programme for the commercial sector is not withdrawn.
The industrial units of Lahore, Shikhupura Sahiwal, Kasur, Okara, Gujranwala and Faisalabad are the worst hit by the decision. The protest rallies are being pioneered by five trade organizations, including All Pakistan Sizing Association, All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association and Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association. They have the full backing of the local industrial network.
The closure of Zamzama Gas Field in Sindh province has substantially decreased the gas supply to the industrial sector of Punjab, forcing the Sui Northern Gas Company to introduce a three-day weekly loadshedding programme for the commercial sector. Sui Gas sources say that Zamzama Gas Field is likely to take three to four weeks to reopen after annual maintenance.
The closure has disappointed the Faisalabad-based textile manufacturers and exporters who have united against the government decision. All industrial associations and trade bodies of Faisalabad demanded of the government this week to review the decision of closure giving them more time to meet their production deadlines.
But now the closure has already started and traders are afraid that they will lose millions of dollars due to possible cancellation of export orders from their international clients. The local traders have termed the federal government’s decision as ‘Punjab specific’ and warned that this discrimination will fuel hatred and disharmony among the provinces.
Loom Owners Association Chairman Waheed Khaliq Ramay and Chief Patron Mirza Shaifq Ahmed have bitterly criticised the federal government and warned it will destroy both the industry as well as the export of the country. “The immediate result of the gas cuts is that thousands of industrial workers will lose their jobs,” said Waheed Khaliq Ramay.
“The government must have a uniformed gas policy for all the provinces of Pakistan,” said Chief Patron Mirza Shafiq. “The discrimination against one particular province will breed contempt and jealousy between traders of Karachi and Faisalabad,” they said in a joint statement. “The confidence of traders community is sinking very fast due to biased policies,” said Waheed Ramay.
Waheed Ramay and Mirza Shafiq reminded the authorities that Sui gas was a raw material to the power loom industry of Fasialabad which is already struggling hard to survive the crisis. The trade associations say that the authorities must take them into confidence before taking such decisions. “The closure of Zamzama Gas Field could have been done during the Eidul Azha holidays,” said Waheed Ramay.
“It is because we are busy to complete the production orders of American and European Union clients before Christmas and New Year. But under the present circumstances, we are afraid that we would not be able to meet the deadlines,” he apprehended.
The extraordinary meeting of the five trade bodies of Faisalabad was held at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) under the chairmanship of FCCI President Sheikh Abdul Qayyum who has threatened to close the industry if the government continues to tread on the collision course with the industry.
“The traders will bear a loss of millions of dollars if they fail to meet their deadlines,” said FCCI President Sheikh Abdul Qayyum. The meeting was attended by Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Vice President Mian Muhammad Idrees, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association Chairman Maqsood Ahmed Butt, ex-presidents of FCCI Mian Aftab Ahmed and Khawaja Asim Khursheed, Mian Abdul Lateef from Chenab Group and members of other trading companies.
