April 19, 2002	Friday	Safar 5, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

FAISALABAD, April 18: The continuous recession in the Asia’s biggest cotton yarn market and escalating prices of electricity and gas have forced closure of scores of small units.

The fact came to light when a large number of people were seen roaming on roads waiting for a job as a labourer or a daily-wager in many localities.

Some of them told this scribe on Thursday that they had been jobless for the last couple of months. Some of them said they had been working on powerlooms, others on the units of sizing, calendering, dying, finishing, printing and bleaching.

Dozens of hosiery units have also been closed down due to reduction in orders from abroad and poor response from within the country.

An exporter said the cost of production of exportable goods had been enhanced due to increase in tariff of electricity, gas, telephone, sewerage and water supply. It has become impossible for them to compete in the international markets, he added.

The powerlooms owners engaged in manufacturing cloth on “contract basis” have also started closing their factories because exporters refused to give them more orders.

A majority of yarn market dealers were seen sitting idle. However, dealers having direct contacts with spinning mills and powerloom factories in other cities of the province transacting their business by telephone. But overall activity of the market has come to a standstill, he claimed.

Local yarn dealers and cloth merchants have demanded the president to announce a package of incentives for the cottage industry, especially powerlooms and sizing, so that they could restart their business to feed their families and provide jobs to others.