Aptma wants power for textile mills

LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) on Friday urged the prime minister and Punjab chief minister to save thousands of jobs and direct Punjab-based distribution companies, especially Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), to immediately restore power supply to textile mills.
Aptma Chairman SM Tanveer said due to the suspension of power supply over the last two days, the Punjab-based textile mills now rely on just six hours a day gas supply on the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) network.
Resultantly, he said, the majority of Punjab-based textile mills have opted for shutting down two shifts a day instead of continuing 24/7 operations to save jobs of the workers.
He said the industry operations in Lesco region in particular, are highly disrupted and the majority of mills are unable to meet export orders. Already, for the last two quarters, exports of cotton yarn and cotton cloth have been on a declining trend, he said.
Furthermore, supplies to the textile value chain are also in doldrums, which has led to negative impact on textile exports from Pakistan.
The Aptma chairman said that despite the PM’s special directive to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the textile mills, the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) failed to comply.
He further said the Ministry of Water and Power does not seem to be taking benefit of the rapidly falling oil prices. Otherwise, the present electricity demand could easily be met. The situation was extremely serious and needed immediate government attention, he said.