Gas shortage hits production in Narayanganj factories

FE Report brAround 700 export oriented factories in Araihazar, Rupgonj and Bhulta in the Narayanganj industrial belt are on the verge of shutting down as gas supply shortage took a severe turn in the region, the owners claimed at a press conference in the capital Friday.brThe press conference, held at the National Press Club, was attended by the owners of over a hundred factories located in Narayanganj.brThe factory owners made a strong plea to the government for taking immediate steps to resolve the crisis and enable them to continue their production.brThey said production in the factories, which employed nearly 300,000 workers, has gone down to the lowest level in the past two to three months compelling those to suspend a large number of export orders.brGas shortage has hit the production of around 700 factories in the region drastically which are now on the verge of shutdown, chairman of HP chemicals A T M Hayatuzzaman Khan told reporters in the press conference.brIn such circumstances, he said We can't take the responsibility of workers' unrest over payment of their wages if the factories are forced to shut down and our failure to repay interest and principal amount of loan installments.brKhan said We have already brought the matter to the attention of the special aide to the chief adviser M Tamim and observed a sit-in programme in front of Titas office in Araihazar but there has been no positive outcome.brWe want nothing else but gas to continue production, said Al Haj Nazrul Islam, chairman of Padma Weaving and Dyeing Factory Ltd.brNuruzzaman Khan, managing director of NZ Textile Mills and Spinning, said Production at my factory dropped drastically due to low pressure of gas. brI can't continue production any more because the fluctuation in gas pressure poses a threat to my machinery, he said, adding many factory owners suspended production for the same region.brSpeaking at the conference, SNR Tawfiq, general manager of Sunshine Fashion Knitting Industries Ltd, said Our production capacity has dwindled. We are now capable of manufacturing 5495 pieces of knitted items in a month against our original production capacity 857,116 pieces.brPoor production has forced us to cut export orders, he said, adding We received export orders worth over $2.1 million in May, $2.2 million in June, $1.1 million in July, $ 718,403 in August and $183,550 in September.brAgainst this backdrop, Khan called upon the government to take urgent measures to alleviate the situation.br