KCCI slams Railways’ action against Gul Ahmed

KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has strongly condemned the unjust action of the Pakistan Railways against Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited of sealing the legally acquired yard without any court order or legal justification, a statement said on Saturday.

KCCI President M Shariq Vohra appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to take notice of the wrongdoing by the Pakistan Railways, which would terribly affect the operations of Gul Ahmed and put thousands of workers’ jobs at stake. He said the legally acquired yard of Gul Ahmed Textile was situated on Pakistan Railways’ land where the textile mill kept all its cotton stocks in bulk quantities, but it was sealed probably due to the ongoing anti-encroachment drive.

However, it was a legally acquired premise whose lease documents have been vetted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Sindh High Court, he said.

“When the management of Gul Ahmed assured to abide by whatever the honourable court decides in this matter, it was unfair to refrain them from taking away cotton stocks from the yard,” he added. Gul Ahmed was the biggest exporter of textile products and this move to refrain the textile mill from accessing its cotton stock would affect its production activities and their exportable consignments may also suffer delays. “Prompt intervention by the PM and governor in this matter would ensure smooth operations of the factory and save thousands of jobs.” “The Karachi Chamber fully supports Gul Ahmed’s legitimate demand to allow access to its raw material so that its workers remain at work, export operations continue without any disruption and the shareholders remain confident about the mill’s performance,” he said, adding that even the government of Pakistan was also a shareholder of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills through NIT and NIC.