Chairman APTMA Punjab concerned over low pressure gas supply to mills

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab Chairman Syed Ali Ahsan has expressed concerns over the low pressure gas supply to the Punjab-based textile mills, particularly those situated in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan.

He said the textile workers would have no option but to take to the streets in case the government failed to restore gas supply to mills immediately. Already, he said, 35 percent of the production capacity has been closed down due to the high cost of doing business, particularly the high energy price and unnecessary burdening of gas price by 40 to 50 percent for the industry.

He lamented that the government was making false claims regarding resumption of energy supply to the industry and pointed out that a big number of textile mills have been closed down because of the low pressure gas supply.

Chairman APTMA Punjab said the province has already become a graveyard of textile industry and a steep fall in exports and closing down of production capacity was a clear manifestation of the same. Majority of the industry was incurring huge losses out of exorbitant cost of doing business. The textile workers were up in arms, demanding an immediate resumption of operations at mills, he added.

He has appealed to the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources to take stock of the situation and direct the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) authorities to restore full pressure of gas supply to the textile mills without any further delay.