LAHORE– For the last ten days all export industry of Punjab including leather industry has been closed due to lockdown across the province. Due to which the conditions of the industry are very severe.
While the administration in Punjab and other major cities is not ready to attach any importance to the export industry and its associated affairs in this lockdown situation. Mr. Fazlur Rehman Sheikh Chairman Pakistan Tanners Association (Northern Zone) expressed these concerns in a press note.
Sheikh Fazalur Rehman told the press that the leather tanning industry is considered to be the largest industry in the world, which depends on the byproduct of another sector. Food is of paramount importance in the sectors currently operating in the country.
This is why slaughterhouses are also working to keep the supply of meat and meat products in the market,
that is why slaughtering is going on to feed the supply chain of livestock and meat products is available in the markets.
Sheikh Fazlur Rehman added further that the skins have started putrefying due to lack of proper curing arrangement after slaughtering of animals.
We are afraid that these skins may prove to be the source of any infectious disease, and the country cannot afford any suchsituation, he warned the authorities.
In view of similar concerns, the Zonal Chairman PTA urged authorities that it is necessary for leather factories to allow continue working on a limited scale, otherwise raw leather being obtained on a daily basis would start decomposing.
He also warned the government that if the precious skins started to deteriorate, it would have an impact on the economy of the food sector as well as result in higher meat prices.
Therefore, the government should take timely steps to take control of the affairs so that the leather
industry can also be able to absorb the effects of this lockdown, as well as preserve the valuable
skins and set prices for meat during these trouble days could affect to remain stabilize.— PRESS RELEASE
