ISLAMABAD: Ahead of this year’s mango season, which will begin in the first week of May, horticulture exporters have expressed fears that “the unviability of transportation for the movement of labourers due to virus lockdowns” would result in grave losses for them.
In a letter sent to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and other relevant departments, the All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA) has urged the government to arrange “special transport facilities” for labourers so that they could easily travel from Punjab to Sindh.
The association explained that mango crop in Sindh gets ready by the first week of May, whereas in Punjab, it starts after a gap of a month (in June). “The labour for Sindh province is provided by Punjab (Bahawalpur, Multan, Muzaffargarh) and these labourers perform various duties, including plucking, grading, packing and loading the processed mango boxes into trucks.”
It noted that the government had already permitted the labourers to work in farms and orchards in villages by following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for coronavirus.
“Since railway and public transport are not operating due to countrywide lockdown, the transfer of labourers from Punjab to Sindh would become very difficult.”
It continued, “If labourers from Punjab do not reach Sindh on time, it will not only hamper the country’s mango exports but would also weaken the already struggling national economy.
“It’s imminent that during this stressful time, we shall keep a balance between the lockdown and economic activities so that we can steer the country out of this natural catastrophe. We, therefore, humbly request that permission may kindly be granted to operate special transport to carry labourers from Punjab to Sindh so that huge financial losses are likely to be sustained by the growers, exporters and country.”
The association said it would ensure strict compliance to the SOPs issued by the Sindh government with regard to specific working conditions.
