November 05, 2016
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Saturday lauded President FPCCI Abdul Rauf Alam who saved thousands of jobs by saving ship breaking industry from closure.
Gadani ship breaking yard employs around twelve thousand laborers while contributes around five billion rupees in taxes besides providing raw material to the local steel industry, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain aid that police mishandled the situation after a ship caught fire in the yard which resulted in loss of precious lives. On one hand top government officials claimed to initiate probe while on the other hand police started arresting people illegally.
He said that police failed to nab the owner of the ship therefore it rounded up the President of Ship breakers association Dewan Rizwan Farooqi.
The arrest of Mr Farooqi resulted in unrest and the ship breakers decided to observe strike for indefinite period.
Meanwhile, he said, the Businessman Panel of FPCCI contacted FPCCI’s President Abdul Rauf Alam who in turn spoke to the Chief Minister of Baluchistan Sanaullah Zahri.
The conversation between president of the Apex Chamber and the CM led to the release of Mr. Farooqi which has gone down very well with the business community, he said.