Thousands of loaded containers; confiscated
Govt, opposition indifferent to country’s export crisis
Staff Reporter
Lahore
Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) has condemned the illegal detention of containers loaded with export goods by the law enforcement agencies in various cities of Punjab to block the main roads, leaving millions of dollars’ export cargo stuck.
In a letter, simultaneously written to Advisor to PM on Commerce and Textile Abdul Razak Dawood, commerce & textile secretaries, Punjab chief minister and Punjab chief secretary, PHMA Vice Chairman Shafique Butt observed that impounding of export goods containers by the police have put millions of dollars’ export orders at stake.
He said that the major export commodity was falling down fast while supplies of imported raw material was also not reaching the manufacturing units since the government had laid siege to the main cities. Blaming both the government and opposition for the deteriorating state of economy, he said that the government as well as the opposition were indifferent towards the country’s export crisis.
He said that the confiscation of containers and other long vehicles, carrying export goods, was causing great trouble to the importers, exporters and transporters, halting trade and industrial activities across the country.
He said that the business community is impartial and it should not be dragged into political affairs. He added that the containers have been held by the police for political reasons and demerge and rent cost would be sustained by the businessmen for nothing.
Shafique Butt said the country’s major textile exports share came from different parts of Punjab, part of which had now been suspended due to seizure of a large number of containers.
Resultantly, their LCs will expire and their export orders might be cancelled, he said. He added that police in Punjab have also snatched trucks, loaded with textile products of millions of dollars, to use as barriers against the agitators.
PHMA vice chairman further said that a large number of hosiery exporters were worried because they had no information about their export cargoes which the government officials had seized.
There is no clue to the whereabouts of several shipments on way to the harbour, and the exporters have no idea where their containers are, he added.
He criticized the government’s anti-protest strategy that caused a big financial loss to the exporters, saying the exporters were uncertain that whether they would be able to ship their consignments to the world markets as per schedule. He said the country’s exports had already flat and the unresolved issues might further worsen the situation.
There are a large number of exporters whose cargoes are not insured and they may face financial loss of millions of dollars if the consignments are lost or damaged. It is totally nonsense to hijack export cargoes just to stop protests, he added.
The vice chairman, who is the leading exporter of value-added textile goods, observed that the global customers were already uncertain and annoyed by delayed shipments from Pakistan.
