Steel re-rolling industry crisis deepens

KARACHI: The operations of almost all steel re-rolling mills in Sindh and Balochistan provinces have been shut down for an indefinite period, as a ban on the construction of high-rise and other buildings has deadened the demand, industry officials said on Monday.

“A very slow consumption of steel bars have so far sent 70 such units packing, leaving 25 thousands jobless,” Muhammad Hassan Bakshi, chairman Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) said in a statement.

Bakshi said Supreme Court of Pakistan had banned the construction of multi-story buildings in Karachi on the basis of a misconstrued water crisis report by Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB). He said around half a million workers from construction and allied industries had lost their livelihoods in Karachi but Sindh government wouldn’t budge. “The ban that was initially imposed in Karachi has entered its 19th month, but no concrete steps are being taken to resolve the issue. Now they have slapped it on Hyderabad too,” Bakshi said.

He said the Supreme Court, keeping a complete ban on high-rise construction intact, had given permission for ground-plus-six-floor construction but the government officials raised a hurdle in its way.