October 27, 2003	Monday	Sha’aban 30, 1424

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LARKANA, Oct 26: The general body of the Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association has threatened to switch over to oil generators if Wapda does not bring down the power tariff and ensures the desired voltage and correct billing.

SBRMTA general secretary Ramesh Lal, giving the details of the meeting held on Friday, said on Saturday that low voltage, highly inflated bills and a host of taxes had discouraged the rice industry.

He said that 300 mills out of 750 were put on generators after getting their power supply disconnected permanently. The Wapda would be forced to bear losses amounting to Rs500 million if all mills were put on generators, he maintained.

The president of the association, Gada Hussain Mahisar, chaired the meeting that took stock of the post-pest attack on paddy crop, rice exporters’ attitude and performance of the agriculture department coupled with deteriorating law and order situation and mill modernization.

Subsidy on the cultivation of rice was must to support and save it in line with the developed countries’ policies, the association maintained and called on the government to unchain the sector from the IMF’s conditionalities.

The speakers held that in advanced countries, the IMF did not bar extending subsidies on the agriculture sector but in Pakistan it did the opposite.

The association also criticized the signing of the WTO agreement, as it was opined that under the conditions imposed, the rice industry would not be able to meet the required standards, which would in turn, cast an over all negative impact on the industry, therefore, Pakistan should follow India and Brazil which had refused to sign the agreement.

The meeting felt that it was the need of the hour to restore the Sindh Seed Corporation as without pure seed, growers could not ensure quality production.

The speakers were critical of the monopoly of rice exporters and floated the idea of constituting an exporters’ association in Interior Sindh from where most of the rice production came.

Furthermore, the association demanded that the government fix a support price of the rice paddy.