Daily Times

President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, while expressing concerns over the arrest/ detention of owner of a textile mill, stated that it was not a wise move to arrest anyone or raid industries but any violation of government’s order should be brought to KCCI’s and relevant industrial zone association’s notice so that the same could be amicably resolved through negotiations.

“The industrialists are already going through a very difficult situation and finding it really hard to stay afloat hence, the government should refrain from exacerbating their problems and finalize the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at the earliest so that the industries could accordingly adopt precautionary measures at their units to prevent the spread of coronavirus and at the same time, ensure uninterrupted production activities”, President KCCI added in a statement issued.

While referring to Chief Minister Sindh’s recent meeting with representatives of the business & industrial community on April 4, 2020, President KCCI said that Chief Minister afterwards formed a committee which was tasked to outline the SOPs for industries but what happened to that Committee as the business & industrial community has not received any response or SOPs so far.”

He stressed that those export oriented industries, who have residential colonies for labour force and provide private transportation facility while their workforce is capable of reaching factories on motorcycles or bicycles, should be allowed to operate on a condition that they will ensure compliance of precautionary measures including social distancing, use of masks, gloves and sanitizers to disinfect the coronavirus.

He hoped that the Sindh government would take serious notice of the situation and order the Committee to notify SOPs to industries at the earliest while the labour department should only be authorized to vigilantly supervise all the industrial activities. The government will have to act really fast in this regard with a view to save the industries as prolonged closure of the industrial units is going to be really detrimental and disastrous for the entire economy, he added.