KARACHI: President, SITE Association of Industry, Abdul Rasheed, in a press statement, has expressed grave concern over non-issuance of Licenses to Sub-soil water suppliers by the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) and has appealed the Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah to take notice of the situation and issue directives to KWSB to issue Licenses to sub-soil water suppliers so that industries can get water in required quantity.
In an appeal to the CM Sindh and Minister Local Govt., Abdul Rasheed mentioned that sub-soil water suppliers have stopped supplying water to SITE industries (the oldest and largest industrial zone of Pakistan) since few days on the grounds of non-issuance of Licenses by the KWSB which has disrupted water supply to SITE industries, ultimately hampering industrial production.
SAI president further said that industries are already facing the issue of gas closure & low gas pressure and now water is also not available to them. The government should advice industrialists how to run factories in the absence of these utilities? If the government wants to close down industries or shift them to somewhere else, the same should be communicated clearly. On one hand, the government states to provide facilities to promote setting up of new industries and create more avenues for employment while on the other hand, gas and water shortages are there to hinder production process which will ultimately prove disastrous for the economy of the country.
Abdul Rasheed has appealed the Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah to take steps to ensure uninterrupted supply of utilities to all industries and for SITE industries in particular, the licenses to sub-soil water suppliers should be issued urgently to resume water supply to industries in order to continue industrial production unabated.