KARACHI, Feb 6: City's main industrial areas on Friday suffered production losses as a large number of workforce failed to reach their respective units owing to a strike call given by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal against the disgrace of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Industrialists claimed all the activities regarding supply of finished goods to the markets and procurement of raw materials from various market sources remained suspended. "A large number of exporters failed to meet their timely export commitments on Friday," they adds.

Many workers who had gone up-country to celebrate Eidul Azha could not turn up on the first working owing to non-availability of public transport, resulting in thin attendance at industrial units.

All the leading commercial shopping centres, wholesale and retail markets at Saddar, M.A. Jinnah Road, Tariq Road, F.B. Area, Water Pump, Anarkali, Karimabad, Liaquatabad, Jodia Bazar, Marriott Road, Boultan Market, Hyderi, etc., remained closed. However, shopkeepers and retailers, situated inside these commercial markets, kept their business activities as usual. Attendance in private and public sector offices also remained low.

"Around 70-80 per cent of the employees, working in 90 per cent of the small and medium sized industries out of total 2,400 units in Site area, remained absent on Friday due to thin transport movement," Site Association of Industry Chairman Mohammad Nisar Sheikhani told Dawn.

Small industrial units turned out to be the main sufferers of the strike as they failed to run their units on full production capacities. In contrast, he said, big factories did not feel much pinch of the MMA strike as only 20-30 per cent employees stayed at home causing production losses between 30 and 35 per cent.

Industrialists mainly suffered massive production losses, particularly in the morning and afternoon shifts as workers could not reach their duties owing to absence of public transport.

Site industries, having the highest number of direct employees of over 550,000 people, provide Rs2 billion as revenue daily in shape of taxes, duties, wages and services goods. "I think the revenue earning in a single day of strike has nosedived by Rs1.5 billion," Mr Sheikhani said.

Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Chairman Mian Zahid Hussain said only 20-25 per cent people marked their presence on the attendance registers on Friday, thus causing massive production losses of over 80 per cent. He said two shifts of morning and mid-noon had been affected badly due to absence of sufficient manpower.

He claimed the national exchequer might have collected only 10-15 per cent revenues in shape of taxes and duties from 1,200 units situated in the Korangi industrial area.

However, North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) Chairman Sadiq Mohammad has offered a different view. He said his area had not witnessed any massive absence of workforce in the units. "The attendance in our industries remained in the range of 80-90 per cent because majority of labour and workers live nearby the industrial units," he said. Around 150,000-200,000 people are directly and indirectly earning their livelihood in 2,500 small and medium sized units.

F.B. Area Association of Trade and Industry Vice-Chairman Idrees Gigi said the industrial units in the F.B. area had recorded attendance of only 50 per cent on Friday, causing production losses to the industrialists. He said exporters could not meet their timely export commitments. An estimated 250,000-300,000 are directly employed in 2,500 different categories of industries.

An estimated 1.12 million people earn their livelihood in around 6,600 industries in Karachi's four main industrial areas - Site Association of Industry, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry and F.B. Area Association of Trade and Industry.

The strike has also affected the performance of export collectorates. An official at the Export Examination, West Wharf, said only 13 export documents could be processed on Friday as compared to 70-80 documents in normal Fridays. In normal days, over 100 documents were processed.

An official at the Export Examination, East Wharf, said only 20-25 per cent of export documents were examined, and document processing at Customs Air Freight Unit also remained in the range of 20-25 per cent that is one-fourth of the work as compared to normal days.

Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Group (KWGG) Chairman Anis Majeed said the strike had crippled the market activities as main sources of wholesale and industrial supplies remained halted.

He said there was no justification of observing strike as businessmen and traders had returned to their work after five-day Eid holidays. He said such strike was disastrous for economy and businessmen had never supported such strike.