PESHAWAR: The owners of marble factories have refused to shift their units from Warsak Road in Peshawar and Shabqadar area of Charsadda to the newly-established Mohmand economic zone and demanded of the government to compensate them before taking any such decision.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, the owners of marble factories, led by Himmat Khan, said that government had taken unilateral decision without taking them into confidence.

“We are not ready to shift our business from Warsak Road Peshawar to Mohmand unless government establishes such factories for us in the new industrial estate,” said Himmat Khan. He added that the shifting process would cause huge financial losses to the investors.

The newly established Mohmand economic zone, he said, had only 200 plots while the existing marble factories on Warsak Road were 350 in addition to those in Shabqadar. He said that investors had established their factories on Warsak Road in 1980-81 by utilising whatever resources they possessed without the support of government.

“We are stakeholders but the relevant officials of provincial government did not bother to take us on board,” said Mr Khan. He said that closure of marble factories would render at least 12,000 people jobless.

He added that owners of factories were regular taxpayers and they deserved to be facilitated instead of dislocating.

He said that government should also consider the proposals and demands of the owners to avoid traffic clogging on Warsak Road.

“We have not created traffic problems but all such issues have been created by the growing number of private educational institutions. The government has so far not adopted any concrete mechanism to regulate the traffic,” he added.

He said that unemployment was already on the rise and shifting of marble factories without consensus would create many problems for the poor people.

“We have the option to start protest demonstrations or move a court of law for seeking justice in case government does not review its decision,” said Mr Khan.

Published in Dawn, Jannuary 5th, 2021