KARACHI: A delegation of industrialists from Mehran Town Saturday sought Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry's assistance in convincing the Sindh Government to de-seal their industries in Mehran Town and refrain Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) from issuing further notices and sealing more industrial units in this particular area in order to save hundreds and thousands of workers from becoming jobless.
The delegation was led by Rana Waheed that visited the KCCI and held meeting with them.
President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra presided over the meeting, also attended by Senior Vice President Saqib Goodluck, former Presidents KCCI Abdullah Zaki and Shamim Ahmed Firpo, former Senior Vice President Ibrahim Kasumbi, PCLC Chief Hafeez Aziz, Managing Committee members and others.
Rana Waheed, while appreciating the efforts of the KCCI to minimize the grievances being faced by the industrialists of Mehran Town, stated that around 3,000 industries including cottage industries and small factories are present in Mehran Town. So far 70 factories have been sealed and all other industries in the area have been receiving notices from the SBCA.
He said "Mehran Town is an important locality where a large number of industries have been operating since many years; hence, it has to be declared as an industrial estate."
He informed that several theft incidents have also taken place in the sealed factories where even the security guards are disallowed to enter. "KCCI should take up this serious issue and help us in convincing the authorities to at least allow deployment of private security guards at these premises so that our units could be saved from burglaries."
After listening to the grievances, President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra assured full support to their valid demands. He stated that Chairman Businessmen Group Zubair Motiwala has already taken up this matter with relevant authorities.
"We will not leave you alone and will try our best to convince the government to de-seal the industrial units and refrain the SBCA from issuing notices to industrialists of Mehran Town", he added.
He said that the KCCI was deeply grieved over the loss of precious lives in a recent fire incident at a factory in Mehran Town, but punishing everyone for someone else's negligence was not a wise move. "Closure of so many industries, including cottage, small-sized and medium sized industries was neither in favour of the economy nor the business community and thousands of those workers who have been earning their bread and butter from these units."
He was optimistic that keeping in view the people-friendly approach of the Sindh Government, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet would realize the hardships being suffered by the industrialists of this particular area and accordingly announce relief by issuing directives to de-seal industries and stop the SBCA from issuing notices.
Shariq Vohra also advised the industrialists of Mehran Town to ensure strict compliance of all fire-related SOPs at their industrial premises in order to prevent such untoward incidents in future.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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