KARACHI, Sept 1: Industrial activities remained completely suspended on Friday due to dearth of workers, who could not reach their respective units in the absence of public and private transport.
The transport remained off the roads in response to the strike call given by the MMA over the killing of Jambhori Watan Party chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Some industrialists had announced Friday as a holiday in their factories and called the workers on Sunday for duty in order to make up for the production loss incurred due to the strike. However, they did not detain the night shift workers on Thursday due to the uncertain situation.
All the leading wholesale and retail markets remained closed throughout the day while industrialists suffered losses on export side by holding their ready shipments inside the factories as goods carrier and container trawlers could not reach the units.
Even the attendance of staffers in the banks remained very thin and traders and businessmen could not open letters of credit for imports.
Supplies from the industries to the local markets and procurement of raw material from the wholesale markets remained suspended throughout the day because of the closure. More than 50 per cent people are employed in industrial units on daily wages, piece basis and contractual work basis.
Chairman Site Association of Industry Ameen Bandukda said that 80 per cent factories remained shut, which means a big production loss to the industries as well as to the government in terms of taxes and duties. There was hardly 20 per cent production in the units, which were open. He said some industrialists had decided to call the workers on Sunday by announcing Friday as a holiday.
The Site has over 3,000 units that employ 550,000-600,000 workers and staffers. Out of which 300,000-350,000 workers are on daily wages.
Chairman Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (Kati) Gulzar Firoz said that majority of industries were shut in the area and there was hardly any production on Friday. Some 20 per cent labour marked their attendance in their units, which was not enough to run the factories.
Morning and afternoon shifts were badly affected due to the absence of private and public transport. However, he said that some industrialists had already planned to utilise Sunday as a full working day and they kept their units closed on Friday.
“Strike make a negative impact on the foreign buyers, who are in the city and send a bad message to those who plan to visit the city,” he said adding that the industrialists could not forget the month of August in which the business remained highly affected because of heavy rains and load-shedding.
Former chairman Kati Shaikh Manzar Alam said that the area had suffered 80 per cent production loss as 90 per cent of labour was absent due to non-plying of transport. He said some 10-15 per cent factory owners had already informed their workers about the Friday as a holiday and called the workers on Sunday for duty.
Exports and local business came to a grinding halt and the area presented a deserted look on Friday owing to phenomenal drop in the industrial activities, he said.
Korangi provides Rs200 million a day to the provincial and federal government in taxes and duties. Over 200,000 workers are employed in thousands of units in the area, he said.
Chairman F.B. Area Association of Trade and Industry (FBATI), Rehan Zeeshan said that 75 per cent industries remained shut on Friday while 25 units, which remained open, witnessed 30 per cent attendance of workers and labour.
Overall both domestic and export business came to a halt. The F.B. Area has 2,500 units in which 90 per cent units are export-oriented. Some 200,000 to 250,000 workers are employed by the industrial units of which 50 per cent are on daily wages.
Chairman North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) Dawood Usman Jahkoora said that 70 per cent production in the industrial area was hit by low attendance of workers, who could not reach their workplace due to lack of private transport.
He said that some 50-60 per cent industries in the area were completely closed and some businessmen had called their workers to duty on Sunday. North Karachi industrial area comprise of mostly 2,500 small and medium size units that provide jobs to 125,000 people of which 60 per cent are on daily wages.
