November 29, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 18, 1428

PESHAWAR, Nov 28: At least 300 silk and cosmetic industrial units in Swat have been closed because of the clashes between militants and the armed forces, rendering hundreds of workers jobless.

The factories were closed after most of the technical staff belonging to other cities of the country left Swat because of the continued fighting in the area.

The silk industry was already in crisis because of an increase in prices of raw material and closure of the Afghan Transit Trade. However, the cosmetics industry was having a good business and was the main source of income for the local people. Most of workers in the cosmetics industry were women.

The silk industry was established in the 1960s during the era of former Wali Swat Miangul Jehanzeb who had allowed investors to set up factories on the condition that the machinery once installed would not be shifted from the area.

Majority of the investors belonged to other provinces, mainly from Sindh and Punjab, who earned huge profits from this tax-free zone. The incentives given by the state had attracted other investors who made huge investment in the scenic valley.

Another reason for the rapid industrialisation was the Afghan Transit Trade. It was a cheap source for getting raw material for silk mills.

Muttahida Labour Federation vice-president Abdul Wadood told Dawn that industrialists used to purchase the raw materials from boarder areas of Afghanistan at cheap rates.

He said that people could not go to the factories because of curfew and army operation against the militants.

An official in the Swat labour department said that the industrialisation had brought many changes to the socio-economic status of the people.

He said that even after the closure of the ATT by the previous Nawaz Sharif government, industrialists continued their business. The industrialists after the ban on transit trade had started purchasing the raw materials from Karachi, Lahore and other cities of the country at higher prices which affected their business, he added.

The official said the current military operation in Swat had fruther affected the silk and cosmetics industries and led to the closure of 300 factories.He said that if the clashes continued, the owners of silk and cosmetics units would have to sell their machinery to pay power and water bills and rent of houses and halls.

Silk industries are mostly located in Rahimabad, Nengulai, Lower Bandai, upper Bandai, Matta and Kabal. Cosmetics factories are located in Gumbad Mera, Navay Kalay and Rehmanabad.