After its emergent session presided over by Agha Saiddain Central Chairman Pakistan Tanners’ Association (PTA), the Association appealed to Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab, to take immediate note on the orders notified by DCO for closure of every kind of leather hide and skin business within the limits of Municipal Corporation limits of District Multan with immediate effect, otherwise strict action is warned off against the non-compliant.

Participating members in the emergent session of Pakistan Tanners’ Association expressed surprise over the DCO orders which are irrational and appeared to be issued to look after some vested interested. It was also noticed that the decision is baseless and is made without consulting Multan leather business community.

Saiddain observed that city government Multan fails to attach any importance with the leather business which is the second largest export earner for the country. Moreover, without allocating an alternate business space, such an order would only to create panic in business quarters and to provoke unrest amongst the leather business community. Members from Multan pointed out that as all major hides and skins markets and godowns at all cities including Lahore and Karachi are located in the urban populated areas so how and on what basis, a discriminatory order is passed for Multan only? Chairman Pakistan Tanners’ Association confirms that mostly raw hide markets in Pakistan are working within cities without any problem.

All these traders and industries have invested millions of rupees in the infrastructure and business circle. Therefore, an overnight order to roll back all the productive business activity is nothing but thoughtlessness and absence of concern for the a billion dollar earning export industry. He added that this measure would break all supply chain of leather making industry which is already facing scarcity challenges of raw material, along with power and gas outages.

Agha Saiddain appealed to the Chief Minister of Punjab for making necessary interventions to nullify the orders otherwise he warned off for a nationwide strike against the reckless decision being imposed.