July 30, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1424

KARACHI, July 29: Persistent rains have severely affected the industrial production in the city’s five main industrial estates, and slowed export shipments because of thin cargo movements on the road in the first month of the new fiscal year, besides delaying arrivals of raw materials both imported and from the upcountry.

Massive traffic jams and thin public transport have refrained the labour force to mark their daily attendance on time at their industrial units.

Industrialists complain about non-availability of cargo carrying transport as goods carriers are not ready to ply their vehicles on the dilapidated roads. Some carriers get ready to take the goods to the port or upcountry, that too on high rates, thus making shipments unfeasible.

Export Collectorates have also reported a drop of 25-40 per cent in processing of export shipping bills. An official in Export Collectorate East Wharf said that around 70-75 bills were being processed as compared to 100-125 bills in normal days. Situation of processing export shipping bills has not been satisfactory for the last two to three days.

“I think production efficiency in Site industrial areas have been affected by 25-50 per cent depending on the sectors,” the chairman Site Association of Industry, Haroon Farooqi told Dawn on Tuesday, saying rains have messed up and paralyzed the city life as well as industrial activities.

As far as labour attendance is concerned, it has definitely come down to 25-40 per cent since the rains have started, he said.

He said cargo movement at Maripur road and other parts of the city had come down drastically because of heavy rains, which have destroyed roads and caused massive traffic jams.

Haroon said export shipments had been under pressure since the last one week, causing delay in shipments. Exporters are facing problems in meeting their export commitments.

“I think exports in Site area have suffered a decline of 50 per cent since rains have played havoc in the province,” he said adding that raw materials were not arriving from the upcountry.

He feared a drop in cotton output from Sindh if incessant rains continued to lash the province. He said Sindh crop arrived in the ginneries in August. Reports are coming in that phutti is becoming wet and its colour is getting yellow. As a result, the risk of infestation usually increases in times of heavy rains.

Sindh accounts for 25 per cent of country’s total cotton production as compared to Punjab where crop is at plantation stage. Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), S.M. Naseer claimed that his industrial area had registered around 75 per cent fall in production activities.

“The arrival of labour force in the industrial units has not been more than 25 per cent,” he said adding that three shifts, which were usually being operated in the industries, had gone upside down.

He said KATI area was now wearing a pathetic look as roads are submerged by rainwater. People were facing problems in reaching their units due to thin transport. Korangi had over 2,500 units comprising 32 per cent large, 25 per cent medium and 43 per cent small scale units. Around 15 types of industrial group activities exist. An estimated 1,640 units are working with a labour force of 109,472 including 5,409 management personnel.

The chairman, Council of Karachi Industrial Association (CKIA), Zakaria Usman was of the view that production in city’s four to five industrial estates had plunged by over 50 per cent in the last few days.

He said only 20 per cent labour had turned up to their respective industrial units from Monday to Tuesday, while the workers’ attendance prior to Monday had been ranging between 40- 50 per cent.

Rains have destroyed the remains of city’s infrastructure. Industrial cargo movement at the Maripur Road has almost come to a standstill in the last few days. “We have been clamouring that the government should revive the infrastructure development process in the old industrial estates but nothing has been done so far,” he said while referring to government’s plan for setting up more industrial zones.

He said city’s five industrial estates contribute 40-50 per cent of the revenue to the national kitty out of total revenue collection. The revenue contribution of Site industrial area is over 30 per cent.

MARKETS: Wholesale markets have also felt the pinch of torrential downpour in the city thus bottoming out all trading activities, said chairman Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association (KWGA), Anis Majeed, while referring to the Jodia Bazar, the city’s hub of wholesale, imported, local and exportable items, where retailers buy items in bulk for their shops.

He said rainwater has poured into many godowns situated in the wholesale markets and many exporters of pulses are waiting for the sun appearance to dry many items including pulses in the sunlight.

“Supplies to the retail markets and export shipments have almost become negligible in the last two days,” he said adding that trucks’ arrival from port have also come down.

Same is the case with retail markets as buying and selling activities had been facing a lacklustre trend as rains had restricted the movement of buyers in the markets.