KARACHI, Nov 9: Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood is expected to meet the ginners of southern Punjab on November 15, and will persuade them to sell quality lint to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).

The ginners of southern Punjab, notably from Rahimyar Khan district, which has already been declared a model cotton ginning area along with Mirpurkhas in the Sindh cotton belt are claimed to have certain reservations about selling their lint to the TCP.

“On the top of them being the mode of payments against their stocks and inadequate testing facilities in Rahimyar Khan,” local market sources said. “They have to travel all the way to Multan to get clearance certificate of the quality of lint from the TCP lab facilities there, which adds to their overheads.”

“Most of the lots produced by us are entitled to a premium of Rs.150 to Rs.200 per bale as promised by the government,” says leading ginner claiming “but that is not being fulfilled by the relevant authorities.”

Rahimyar Khan being a district headquarter, which alone produces over a million bales of cotton should have all the lab facilities needed for the smooth transactions between the TCP and the ginners of the areas.

“The TCP should make arrangements through the local banks after selling prices are settled so that ginners could make payments to the grower well in time,” ginners say.

According to them their overhead expenses have risen sharply as they are strictly following the guidelines given by the ministry of agriculture and the Export Promotion Bureau to produce contamination-free cotton from the growers to the ginning levels.

“We are not using jute or polythene bags, which are claimed to be major source of contamination and instead have opted for cloth bags, which are claimed to be a bit expensive,” they add.