PESHAWAR: Small factory owners have urged the government to impose a ban on supply/trade of tons of plastic and rubber slippers scrap from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Afghanistan. They also demanded the abolishment of property tax on Peshawar’s Small Industrial Estate (SIE), Kohat Road.
These demands made by a delegation of Small Industrial Estate Association Kohat Road Peshawar, which was headed by former president Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz and the association’s president Wahid Arif Awan during a meeting with President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad here at the chamber’s house.
Imran Khan Mohmand, senior vice president, vice president Javed Akhtar, small factory owners and other office bearers of the association were present in the meeting.
The delegation apprised SCCI’s president regarding small manufacturers’ apprehensions regarding collection of property tax from SIE Kohat Road Peshawar, supply of plastic, rubber slippers scrap from KP to Afghanistan and other problems.
Engr Maqsood Pervaiz said KPEZDMC has abolished property tax from industrial estate, which is a highly laudable step.
However, he demanded the Small Industrial Development Board (SIDB) to follow suit and exempt the small industrial estate Kohat Road Peshawar from such tax in order to make the dream of promotion of industrialization in KP come true in a real sense under the vision of the incumbent provincial government.
Pervaiz expressed serious concern over the export of tons of plastic and rubber slippers scrap to Afghanistan from KP, saying that the trade isn’t in the best interest of the small industrialists, because they have been depriving them of precious raw material.
He urged customs and relevant authorities to impose a ban on export to Afghanistan forthwith in order to protect interest of local manufacturers and prevent them from huge financial losses.
Office bearers of the association on the occasion demanded of the SIDB to construct a canteen for staff, working in SIE, Kohat Road Peshawar.
Later, the SCCI’s president Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad in response to different queries and issues of small industrialists assured that the chamber would take up all these issues with relevant government authorities in a befitting manner.
Khurshid noted that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have played a pivotal role in economic development of the country, therefore, he asked the federal and provincial governments to resolve their issues on priority and facilitate them at every level.
The chamber president emphasized it is the prime duty of the government to provide facilities to investors and remove hurdles in the way of business and trade in order to boost up the local economy and provide maximum job opportunities in the country.
He stressed the need for amicable resolution of problems that were being faced by small manufacturers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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