MULTAN, March 11th:The city was decorated with banners displayed by All Pakistan Power Looms Association (APPLA) to press the authorities for acceptance of their demands on Saturday .They have threatened to close their business and sell out their machinery in scrap if the Government does not resolve their problems and announce a bailout package for Power loom Industry forthwith like Textile Industry because 70 per cent power looms have so far been shut due to expensive electricity and unafforable price of yarn APPLA demanded that rebate on the export of cotton yarn must be withdrawn for the survival of local value added industry like Power loom. Addressing a crowded press conference here today APPLA's Central President Khaliq Qandeel Ansari, General Secretary Saeed Ahmed Saeedi, Haji Bashir Ahmed Ansari, Haji Abdul Latif Ansari, Muhammad Younas Ansari,Master Mukhtar Ahmed ,Haji KhalilAhmed Ansari,Ch.Tanvir Hussain,Haji Muhammad AkramAnsari,Haji Shaukat Ali, Rafaqat Munir Ansari,Haji Irshad Ahmed, Mian Arif Ali,Haji Shahid Ibrahim ,Deputy Mushtaq,Baba Liaquat Ali, Haji Mubarak Ali,Haji Bashir Ahmed Silk -walay, Haji Aslam Rawan walay, Haji Ehsan ul-Haq Shani and others demanded for separate power tariff forpower loom industry and it should not be more than Rs.6/unit, Locally manufactured machinery and local labour be adjusted under CPEC project to reduce the unemployment, New Textile policy be introduced with the consent of all stake holders of cotton. He said that a national convention of power loom owners & workers would be organised in Qasur in which a dead line would be announced for acceptance of their demands .He said that powerlooms owners were selling their machinery in scrape. Khaliq Qandeel Ansari stressed the need for exploring new markets to sell Pakistan textile products because old buyers have gone to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,India and Taiwan due to energy crisis as we failed to meet their demands on time. They alleged that policies of present regime had put a last nail in our coffin.He said that spinning sector had destroyed the value added industry of Pakistan by exporting maximum cotton yarn to our competitors He stressed the need for taking measure to reduce the cost of production to make the trade viable and crackdown againstthe smugglers of foreign clothes.
