MULTAN,Oct 31st: Industrialists, power looms owners of South Punjab have announced to launch protest from November 1 against the load shedding of electricity and gas, and strongly demanded that gas shedding schedule should be implemented across the board in the country.Khaliq Qandeel Ansari, Secretary General of All Pakistan Power Looms Association said that gas suspension plan for three days would have a very negative impact on the entire industrial sector that was already passing through very challenging times due to acute shortage of electricity and gas, bad law and order situation due to growing unemployment in the country. He said that not only national exports and productions would nosedive but the graph of unemployment would also go up as a large number of industrial units would be left with no other option but to close down their operations if gas suspension plan is not shelved. How the industrial sector would be able to manage export orders worth millions of dollars when there is no gas, while gas authorities do not bother about the pain of business community, he added.
He said that thousands of daily wagers, who have a single source of income for their family, are becoming totally jobless, and how the government would convince the local and foreign investors for investment in the country when most of the upcountry industrial sector is unable to manage the supply of gas to existing industrial units.He strongly demanded that gas load shedding schedule should be distributed across the board to curtail the difficulties of the industrialists. Shabbir Hussain Chawala, vice president, Javed Iqbal, Aftab Ahmad, Hamid Javaid, Muhammad Khalid Habib, former presidents of FCCI Farhan Latif, Director Chenab Limited Ajmal Farooq, former regional chairman of All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association Shahid Razzaq Sikka, President of Anjuman-e-Tajran Faisalabad City Talib Hussain, senior vice president of Pakistan Sizing Industries Association and Muhammad Afzal Tarar, General Secretary of Faisalabad Foundries Association said that it seemed that some elements in the gas and government departments were hatching conspiracies against the government, especially Punjab, to defame industrial activities that otherwise was doing a lot for the economic revival of the country. They pointed out that they were unable to understand why the business community was not taken into confidence over industry-related issues and if the SNGPL was facing some supply related issues they must bring them to the notice of real stakeholders well ahead of time. The Sui Northern Company had issued a gas load shedding schedule, under which the gas supply to value-added textile processing, printing and sizing units will remain suspended for 6 days and it would be restored on November 4.
They pointed out that prolonged gas shedding is being done on the pretext that the Zamzama turnaround will remain closed for 65 days. He said that it was not feasible to run these industries on other fuel. He added that when the Sui Northern Company had previously closed the Qadir Pur turnaround, it resumed the gas supply to industry on interference of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. He added that the company could accomplish the Zamzama turnaround during ensuing Eid holidays, without disturbing the gas supply to industry.
Talking to newsmen, Wasim Latif, chairman of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), said that the government should chalk out a comprehensive policy for boosting the industrial production and augmentation of the textile exports. He said that the government has acquired a loan of 1.5 billion dollars from IMF on harsh terms and payment of heavy mark-up but the textile sector which is indeed the backbone of Pakistan's economy and was earning direly needed foreign exchange of $10 billion a year without receiving any concession from the government despite almost double prices of the raw material, electricity and gas rates.
ZBTL/ FARMERS
MULTAN,Oct 31st: Instead of extending a helping hand, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited has added insult to injury of flood-hit farmers by halting tractor financing to them amidst destruction of over 20 percent agricultural lands of the growers, TheNation learnt on Friday.
Besides, the Bank’s loaning ratio is sharply declining, reducing to half the amount, but the authorities continue to hoodwink the customers and even the high-ups by constantly showing the amplified amount of loans through different means, including manipulation of data, sources said.
According to documents available with TheNation, all zonal chiefs of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank have been directed by the head office not to entertain fresh tractor loan cases till further orders.
A circular letter No CD/24/2010, dated 13-10-2010 issued by the ZTBL head office and addressed to all zonal chiefs, reads: “Tractors loan cases subsequent to April 17, 2010 will be referred back to the concerned zone and these shall be kept pending till further orders by the Credit Division an Head Office. Besides, no fresh tractor loan cases will be entertained by the branches till further orders by Head Office.”
Officials said that though the Bank had issued directions to stop financing tractors to the growers in mid-Oct, actually it halted the process of issuing loans in this regard in June this year.
They said that tractor loaning has totally been stopped, which will badly affect the next wheat sowing targets. Besides, the ZTBL has so far not encashed around Rs 1 billion to the tractor manufacturers against the units already delivered.
“Total agri loan provided to the growers in the country is usually Rs 207 billion and ZTBL share is almost 80-90 percent in the total amount. Instead of increasing the loan ratio to Rs 200 billion to facilitate the flood affectees, the figure presently hovers around Rs 30-40 billion,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The ZTBL does not issue loans these days, but to the surprise of many, its revenue and recovery performance in terms of books is very high, he said.The Bank has endeared a novel strategy to dupe the customers as well as the high-ups, he added.
Under this plan the issuance of loans, which in fact has shown a downward trend, is being manipulated to indicate as if they are performing well, he disclosed.
According to official sources, the loans have reduced to about Rs 30-40 billion from the past years figure of over Rs 200 billon.
The Bank shows issuance of loan in ledgers only. The Bank calls borrower and gets a blank cheque from him of already issued loan, showing in ledgers on one hand a recovery of loan and on the other hand advancing the same amount of loan to the similar farmer. In this way Bank shows performance in terms of recovery and issuance of more loans in ledgers, but in actual position no loans are issued or recovered.
Pakistan Agri Forum Chairman Ibrahim Mughal while talking to TheNation, said that in tractor loans ZTBL share is up to 70 percent. In Pakistan around 60,000 tractors are sold annually and each tractor costs Rs 600,000 on average, he said and added that 99 percent tractors are sold on credit. He pointed out that presently the Bank is running short of finance, as cash-stricken government is providing no fund to it.
When contacted, Shehzad Butt, VP Public Relations of the ZTBL, denied any notification by the Bank regarding the halting of tractor financing, saying that the ZTBL is continuously issuing loans to the farmers for tractors.
He said that the Bank has financed the growers for the purchase of 12,000 to 13,000 tractors this year so far. He pointed out that ZTBL financed the farmers for the purchase of 10,000 tractors under Benazir Tractor Scheme last year.
Butt observed that the ZTBL disbursed Rs 77.7b among farmers in 2009 and this amount will increase this year. ZTBL chief Zaka Ashraf did not respond when contacted by TheNation
The representatives of the six industrial areas of Karachi have decided to observe a shutdown on Wednesday if the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) fails to restore uninterrupted supply by Tuesday.
The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the associations of the six industrial zones of Karachi, which took place at Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI) on Saturday.
Chairmen of SITE Association of Industry, North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry, Federal B. Area Association of Trade & Industry, Landhi Association of Trade & Industry, Korangi Association of Trade & Industry, and SITE Super Highway Association of Trade & Industry represented their associations at the meeting besides others.
“Industrial zones are facing 12-hour long power outage every day, which means no production at all. Labour intensive industries, which run 24-hour a day like textiles, are incurring 50 per production losses every day,” Syed Johar Kandhari, chairman, KATI.
The power cuts were causing about Rs8.5 billion losses to the industries and national exchequer, cumulatively, every day, he added.
Salim Parekh, former chairman of SITE Association of Industry, said, “If the shutdown fails to get uninterrupted power supply restored to the industrial zones, we would opt for closing industries for undefined period, as industries are already not working under the provided circumstances.”
“The factory closures would save us something, rather than incurring financial losses and losing credibility before international clients owing to this electricity phenomenon,” he said.
The decision of shutdown was taken with the full support of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry, said Kandhari.
The Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) was not taken into confidence before taking such decision, said Shahid Naseem Khokhar, President of MCCI. The power and gas load shedding were, however, industrialists’ issues and MCCI was also striving to get these issues resolved from Chamber’s platform, he added.
Khokhar said that the industrialists have nothing to do with on going issues between KESC and Sui Southern Gas Company.
“We want electricity round the clock as we pay all utilities bills on time.” He demanded of the KESC to run its power generation system on furnace oil if it was facing lower supply of gas
“We request prime minister and president to intervene and ask KESC to restore electricity to the all of the industrial zones for 24-hour a day.”
Faraz Mirza, Chairman of North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry, said that his zone was suffering a four-hour power supply cut after every four hour, totalling power outages to 12 hours in a day.
The non-availability of power was also causing less supply of water, which was resulting into almost no work at wet industries. “My own textile processing industry is closed for the last five-day owing to this long power load shedding factor.”
Earlier, the SSGC had announced to lower gas supply to industries from October 24 to November 4 for the reason that it was doing maintenance work at its one of gas fields.
It was learnt that the company would do maintenance work at its another fields from November 6, which would be followed by winter season in which the gas supply to the industrial zones remains lower.
