Central Chairman APTMA SM Tanveer has urged the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of delay in gas supply to the Punjab-based textile mills from Thursday, apprehending protests from the textile workers throughout the province in case the mills remain closed after Eid.
He criticised the SNGPL management for suspending gas supply to the Punjab-based textile mills during Eid, saying that millions of textile workers in Punjab have been deprived of overtime for the last four days including Eid holidays. According to him, the textile mills have been designed on 24/7 operations for 365 days a year the concept of mills closure is very rare.
However, the SNGPL suspended gas supply to the Punjab-based textile mills during Eid, resulting into close of business and monetary loss to workers in terms of overtime. Millions of textile workers are workless and any further closure of mills gates on Thursday may lead to province-wide protests, he added.
Already, he said, there is a complete supply chain disruption due to short supply of energy to the Punjab-based textile mills, causing uncertainty to cotton procurement by the mills. A short supply of energy has already closed 35 percent of existing capacity and brought the textile industry exports down by $1 billion in quantity terms during last five months, he added.
SM Tanveer has appealed to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Minister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi to take stock of the situation and direct the SNGPL management to restore gas supplies to the Punjab-based mills immediately.