Newly elected president, Industrialists' Association Peshawar (IAP), Zarak Khan Khattak has lashed out at the PTI-led provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for failure in the implementation of the KP Industrial Policy 2015.
He was addressing the Annual General Meeting (AGM)/handing over ceremony of the association here in the Hayatabad Industrial Estate the other day.
On the occasion, the out-going President Ghazanfar Bilour handed over the affairs of the association to the newly elected President, Zarak Khan Khattak. Senior leaders of the business community including Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, Senator Ilyas Bilour and Senator Mohsin Aziz were also present at the occasion.
The IAP was officially handed over to the new cabinet, which consisted of Zarak Khan Khattak (President), Ayub Zakori (SVP) and Harris Mufti (VP). Ghazanfer Bilour spoke at the event and thanked the members for their support during his tenure.
New President IAP Zarak Khan Khattak spared no time to criticize provincial government for announcing an Industrial Policy in 2015 and not implementing it. He said in the industrial policy announced three years ago the industrialists were offered attractive incentives including five percent markup rebate, 25 percent rebate in electricity and the same rebate in transport. KP-EZDMC a brand new organization was formed to implement the same.
Furthermore, this brand new organization of KP-EZDMC was supposed to increase the speed of on-going works in the industrial estates and also develop Hattar Phase 7 within a record time of 2 years. However, till date not a single rupee has been given in the form of rebate to any single Industrialist of the province.
The Political Government has not only allocated but also transferred Rs 700 million to KP EZDMC for the rebates; however the same is being used to pay extremely high salaries and expenses of the extremely lavish offices of KP-EZDMC. KP-EZDMC hasn't achieved anything in the one window operation either; the industrialists have to deal with EPA, Labour, Industry, PESCO, SNGPL and all other department separately. And now they have to deal with KP-EZDMC separate.
He said Hattar Industrial Estate which was promised to be delivered in December 2017 has yet another two years to go as the problem of electricity has still not been catered for. It will take 2 years to plan and execute the 132kV 46 km transmission line between Burhan and Hattar.
He said that even the under-construction road of Industrial Estate Peshawar, which SDA was supposed to handover on 30th June, 2018, is now going to be delivered after that deadline. "The situation has only worsened. Our Peshawar Industrial Estate has almost no gas pressures although we are gas producing Province."
The provincial government has lost a lot of credibility in the eyes of the business community. It would have been better for the political good-will of the government if the said policy had not been announced if they were unable to execute it. However, there is still time and hope is not lost.
He said the outgoing government has left two months and if it paid the pending case of incentives, money to be paid to SNGPL for gas pipeline and pending bills of the contractors are paid, many problems will be resolved within days. It is only a stroke of a pen away.
All industrialists present on the occasion were having consensus with the views of the new president and were very hopeful from the new young cabinet of Industrialists' Association Cabinet.
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