LAHORE: The eight to 10 hours a day power loadshedding for industry in Punjab particularly for textile sectors has hit hard the manufacturing and has forced the owners to close down two shifts and lay off a large part of workforce.
According Aptma Chairman SM Tanveer, the power outages has virtually disrupted the supply chain to value-added textile industry, fearing the situation was affecting negatively the country’s exports
He said that workers of the Punjab textile sector were highly perturbed and the millers were trying to appease them with repeated promises of negotiating with the government for full energy supply soon.
He claimed that the Ministry of Water and Power and Discos were flouting directives issued by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for zero loadshedding for Punjab-based textile industry.
According to him, both the Prime Minister and the Punjab CM supported continuous operations of the Punjab-based textile mills on the special insistence of the Minister of Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi. However, it seems that some ministries have adopted hostile attitude towards the Punjab mills, leaving them in a lurch.
The Aptma chairman appealed to both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to stock of the situation and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Punjab Industry, especially textile industry to ultimately avoid losses to the economy.
