The representatives of the businessmen and industrialists association have out rightly rejected the huge increase in petroleum prices and demanded of the government to withdraw the hike immediately. The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF), Ferozepur Road Industrial Association, Katar Band Industrial Association and Kahna Kacha Industrial at an emergent meeting here on Tuesday showed strong reaction against the oil price increase.
Chairman Township Industries Association Haroon Shafiq Chaudhry, Senior Vice Chairman Iftikhar Bashir Chaudhry, Shahid Baig and Adnan Butt of Ferozepur Road Industrial Association, Mehmood Akhtar of Kahna Kacha Link Road, Syed Mehmood Ghaznavi of Katar Band Road, LCCI former Senior Vice President Tahir Javed Malik in the meeting presided over by the PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari termed the decision as anti-industry and anti-masses. They said the government did not ever bother to pass on the benefit of decrease of oil prices in international market and earned billion rupees, which was a sheer injustice and now made a huge raise.
They further said the industry is already facing a number of challenges including 5-day gas load shedding and bad law and order situation. Now increase in the petroleum products would be proved last straw on the back of camel, they added. The associations' office bearers said that the timeline for the increase in the prices of petroleum products was also raising questions. They said that at a time when the whole industry was suffering due to energy crisis and high cost of doing business, the raise in POL prices was bound to give a further blow to the industry.
The business community, for the last many months, has been calling on the government circles concerned to take measures for the promotion of alternate fuels, as trade deficit was fast widening due to heavy imports under the head of petroleum products, they said. The participants demanded of the government to withdraw raise in the prices of POL products otherwise industry would be collapsed within no time and government would lose main source of revenue.