Faisalabad: Gas suspension enters 8th day

FAISALABAD: The industrial sector of Faisalabad region has come to a halt as gas supply has been suspended for indefinite period, Geo News reported Saturday.

The industries are without gas for the eighth consecutive day while the Sui Gas department told that the supply has been suspended for indefinite period. The authorities apprised that the decision to halt gas supply was taken after the difference between demand and supply was widened.

Crises have hit the industrial zone as eight days have already passed without gas and the production process in textile mills has reduced to nil.

Some factories have resorted to utilize woods as fuel and are running the boilers by burning them as fuel. However, most of the factories are not functional for the past eight days that has adversely affected the daily-wage workers.

The workers as well as the industrialists in the city had strongly resented forced holidays due to week-long suspension of gas supply since December 8.

The workers said that they have been thrown out of employment, as the industry cannot run without gas supply, which remains suspended for the last eight days. They have exhausted whatever savings they had and now they and their families are left to face starvation.

Industrialists in the other hand complained that they are finding it difficult to meet their export orders as a result of suspension of gas supply that is incurring huge losses, while the country is also losing much needed foreign exchange.

The industrialists further said that industries were already running on 30% of their installed capacity due to six hours load-shedding of electricity and this suspension of gas supply for the last one-week has rendered the industrial wheel to a complete halt.

They further said that the textile sector is the worst hit as it would not be able to fulfill the export orders for Christmas and the New Year on the one hand while availing the EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme (AUTPS) 25% quota granted to Pakistan ending Dec 2012 and also affecting the exports under the Scheme in the beginning of 2013.

The workers have appealed to the government for an early restoration of gas supply to the industries here and save them from virtual starvation.