An extraordinary general body meeting of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab has, in principle, agreed on Saturday to shutdown mills once a week to protest against the cold shoulder response of the government towards the industry related issues. Addressing a press conference after holding the meeting, Chairman APTMA Punjab Aamir Fayyaz said a final decision regarding closure of mills once a week would be taken next week, as a few members were not available because of the third phase of local bodies' elections in Multan.
He said the cotton crop has registered a decline of 40 percent in Punjab, which is an alarming situation. "The government should sack the head of cotton research institutions and hand over its management to APTMA, which is paying Rs 700 million in the shape of cotton cess," he demanded.
He also criticised the government for not taking appropriate measures to stop a continuous decline in exports since July 2015. "The entire focus of the government is to burden the country with borrowed money from international sources, including the IMF and Euro bonds," he said and added that the government has imposed Rs 40 billion taxes to pay back costlier loans. The textile exports, on the other hand, have reduced by $500 million per month but the government is yet looking indifferent to it, he regretted. He said the cost of electricity in Punjab was exorbitantly high comparing with other provinces as well as the region and as many as 70 mills have closed their operations completely in Punjab. "The textile units are being reduced to ruins today and the millers have no choice but to sell their mills out to property developers or convert them into godowns," he said.
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