KARACHI: Army operation against militants in some parts of the NWFP has led to closure of hundreds of marble factories and mines, especially in Buner, Swat, Mingora and some other parts of Malakand division, rendering a large number of people jobless.

All-Pakistan Marble Industries Association leaders offered divergent views on job losses, closure of factories and mines, and its impact on exports.

Association chairman Farukh Majeed was of the view that over 300 marble factories have closed down after the closure of over 500 mines which used to produce various varieties of marble.

He said one factory employs at least ten to 30 people while at least 10 people work in a mine.

He said despite persistent increase in export of marble during the last one-and-a-half years, shipments in May had been affected seriously.

He said he had been gathering information on actual loss in export earnings for May.

He said marble is mainly exported to Middle East and China. The financial crunch in US and the Europe has hit export of marble from Pakistan, he added.

Association’s senior vice chairman for Sindh and Balochistan Mohammad Arif said in Buner alone some 300 to 400 marble units have been closed while overall closure of factories in adjacent areas has reached 1,200.

These areas used to serve requirements of marble and its other varieties for the Punjab and NWFP while Karachi gets raw material (marble from mines) from Sindh and Balochistan.

If 20 workers are employed in a marble factory, around 24,000 workers would have lost jobs in 1,200 units, he said, adding the number of jobless would be even higher if closure of hundreds of mines is taken into consideration.

One mine employs at least 20 to 25 people, he opined.

He anticipated a 50 per cent drop in marble export earnings in May after military operation in various areas.

Besides, owing to large scale closure of mines and marble units in the NWFP, the industry is also facing problem as mining of Tippy marble has been suspended for more than one-and-a-half months because of tribal disputes between locals.

Thousands of people have been affected with the closure of Tippy marble mine at Khatro, Tehsil Duriji and District Lasbela. This mine remained operational for more than 20 years, and monthly production was 100,000 tons.

Mohammad Arif said he had informed President Asif Ali Zardari and relevant departments on the tribal dispute and its impact, but only industries and production minister Mian Yasin Watoo assured to take up the matter with relevant officials.

In his letter to President, he stated that at least 120 mines had earlier been operational before their closure and thousands of labours have now been rendered jobless.

In Karachi, more than 50 per cent of marble factories had been involved in processing of Tippy marble on gangsaw, vertical and monolama machines.

Around 100-150 trucks (each carrying 30 tons) used to arrive daily in Karachi from Tippy mines and currently no raw material is arriving from the said mine, he added.

He said Tippy marble had also been earning foreign exchange through export to the Middle East in the form of furnished tiles and to China as Monolama blocks.

Despite vast potential for investment in mining sector, this situation is creating insecurity among local and foreign investors, he added.

Sanaullah Khan, a former chairman of the association, said he had visited Buner, Swat and other war-torn areas where 30,000 labourers had been rendered jobless in factories.

He said in Buner alone, 350 factories and 50 actively working mines had been closed.
As many as 30,000 tons of raw material used to arrive daily from 50 mines in Buner.

He was of the view that 10,000 to 15,000 workers had lost jobs after the closure of mines in Buner, Swat and other areas.

Because of suspension in arrival of raw material from Buner and Swat mines, up to 300 marble factories in Mardan, Risalpur, Warsak Road and GT Road have started working on a single shift.

However, the impact of closure of mines and factories may be felt in the coming months as export target for the current fiscal year is $40 million, he said.

Exports of marble from July-April 2008-2009 surged to $29 million from $18 million in the same period of last fiscal year in which a majority of exports were made to the Middle East.