KARACHI, May 12: The Sindh Assembly was on Thursday informed that almost half the industries in the Nooriabad Industrial Estate were lying closed. In his written reply to a question asked by Dr Mahreen Razzak Bhutto of the PPP, the Minister for Industries Mohammad Adil Siddiqui told the house during question hour that there were 92 industries operating in Nooriabad as on Dec 31, 2004. However, 49 of them were operational and the rest 43 lying closed, he added. He could not provide details of the quantum of their production.

Replying to a question by the PPP’s Mohammad Rafique, the minister said that Thatta Sugar Mills, which had been lying closed since 1994-95 crushing season, would be privatized along with the Dadu Sugar Mills.

As per the government’s policy, he said, tenders were invited by the Sindh Privatization Commission in August/September 2002, but the bids received were too low as against the reserved prices. The highest bid of Rs95 million was received against the reserved price Rs408.158 million. As such privatization could not materialized.

He said that the provincial cabinet on May 8 last year had constituted a ministerial committee to examine the matter but it could not finalize its recommendations. The cabinet was also dissolved on June 6, 2004 and reconstituted on July 12, 2004. In the subsequent development, Mr Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, a member of the committee, was also removed as minister for revenue.

A summary had, therefore, been moved in April this year for reconstituting the committee for formulating suitable recommendations in respect of privatization or otherwise of the Sindh Sugar Corporation, and the two sugar mills for submission to the cabinet for an appropriate decision on the matter.

Adil Siddiqui informed the house that since the closure of the Thatta Sugar Mills in 1999, its security had been handed over to police. The minister gave details of the theft and pilferage at the mills.

He said that nine cases had been registered against culprits and an operation for the recovery of the goods undertaken. Raids had also been conducted in Dadu, Khairpur, Ranipur, Hyderabad, Karachi and Lahore, and property worth millions of rupees had been recovered.

Replying to a question asked by Sassui Palejo, the minister said that no industry had been closed in Thatta during the last five years. However, he provided a list of the industries closed before the period.

The chief minister, in his written reply to a question from Humera Alwani, informed the house that due to persistent decline in the cinema business, most of cinema-owners preferred to close their cinema houses and converted the same into shopping centres or markets.