HYDERABAD: Sindh Indus-tries and Commerce Secretary Abdul Rasheed Solangi has said that Rs472m has been allocated for the Kotri Industrial Area and development works would be executed there soon. He said that the minister for industries would visit the area next week.

He was speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by the Kotri Association of Trade and Industry (Kati) on Sunday. He said that a fire tender would be provided to Kati.

Mr Solangi also directed the estate engineer concerned to ensure removal of encroachment from the area.

He announced that a liaison committee comprising representatives of Kotri, Nooriabad and Hyderabad industrial areas would be formed soon. He said that the committee would present its report to the provincial government so that problems being faced by the industrialists could be resolved.

Mr Solangi expressed his gratitude to thos industrialists who were collaborating with the government in its poverty alleviation programme.

SITE Ltd managing director Tariq Anwar Khokhar said that his institution was facing various problems due to present economic conditions in the country. He conceded that the Hyderabad and Kotri SITEs were faced with serious infrastructure issues. He sought cooperation from industrialists in this regard.

Steps to improve economy, condition of flood-hit SITEs urged

Mr Khokhar told Hyderabad Association of Trade and Industry Hyderabad chairman Shahid Kaimkhani that he would soon visit Hyderabad’s SITE to see what could be done for the area.

Jamshoro Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting president Khalil Ahmed Baloch briefed Mr Solangi and Mr Khokhar about the issues confronting Kotri’s industrial zone.

Kati’s senior vice chairman Mohammad Jaffar and the chamber’s senior vice president Mohammad Ishtiaq were also present.

Hyderabad SITE also facing serious issues

Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Industry (HCSTI) president Mohammad Farooq Shaikhani has called for the restoration and uplift of Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) functioning in the second largest city of the province.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he pointed out that the recent flooding had destroyed the already weak infrastructure of the SITE.

Regretting that the Sindh government had been making hollow promises in this regard, he urged Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah to take measures on war footings to ensure that all 300 units in the SITE area resume production and earn revenue for the province.

Mr Shaikhani said that SITE’s industrialists were facing tremendous problems, and added that proper drainage and sewerage system as well as a perfect road infrastructure were key to industrial growth, which alone could bring stability and improve economy of the country.

He noted that SITE’s drainage system had completely collapsed and sewage had destroyed roads in the area. He said that industrial activity was badly affected due to this situation. He emphasised the need for laying new water pipeline as the existing ones had outlived their age. Because of massive encroachment by the ‘qabza mafia’, this industrial zone was losing its utility.

The chamber leader said that industrialists were paying taxes regularly yet they were not being provided due facilities which was tantamount to their exploitation. Out of the SITE’s 300 big and small units, only 187 were functional and the

rest were facing an uncertain future due to poor condition of the national economy. Thus, they are lying closed. But, he said, the main reason for their closure was absence of proper infrastructure in the area.

He reminded the chief minister of his June 2022 budget speech when he had stated that the development expenditures were worked out at Rs332.165bn and that every district would get Rs30bn.

Mr Shaikhani said that six months had passed but no development or improvement could be seen in Hyderabad’s SITE area.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023