HYDERABAD: Sugar millowners slammed for creating zones
Bureau Report
HYDERABAD, Jan 3: Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani has taken strong exception to the introduction of what he called illegal zoning system by sugar mills of the province.
In a statement faxed to Dawn here on Tuesday, he said this was not only violation of the law but also of fundamental human rights and the free trade policy.
He said that sugar mills had divided various areas as if the province was their fiefdom.
He said that a grower of the Golarchi taluka, Syed Noor Mohammad Shah, had despatched his sugarcane to the Ansari Sugar Mill but it was diverted to the Mirza Sugar Mill by force which was 75 kilometres away from the field of Mr Shah.
Mr Nizamani demanded that the government should take notice of the attitude of mill owners and violation of the law, fundamental rights and the free trade policy.
He cautioned sugar mill owners that their attitude would not only create lawlessness in the province but also destroy the sugar industry. He said that farmers would refuse to cultivate sugarcane and as a result, the national exchequer would be overburdened because the government would have to spend a huge amount on the import of sugar.
Meanwhile, growers of Tando Mohammad Khan demanded that the Sindh cabinet should resign because it had failed to implement its writ against the zoning system introduced by sugar mills and ensure payment of minimum price of Rs60 per 40 kilograms of cane to growers.
A meeting of the growers of the district was held at the Soomra house on Tuesday which accused the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association of carving out zones for various sugar mills and refusing to pay the fixed price of cane to growers.
A central leader of the Sindh Abadgar Board and Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Abdul Khaliq Soomro, presided over the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Soomro said that in view of helplessness of the Sindh government, growers would use their democratic right, stop harvesting of sugarcane and launch a phase-wise protest movement.
He alleged that sugar mills had swallowed Rs7 billion of growers in the shape of quality premium and they had introduced the zoning system to deprive sugarcane growers of a just price for their produce.
He sarcastically said that notifications issued by the Sindh government were being ignored by sugar mill owners. Under these circumstances, he said, the Sindh government had forfeited its legal and moral right to remain in power.
Mr Soomro warned that if the government failed to take action against mill owners, growers would continue their protest.
Dr Ayoub Jatt, Syed Aijaz Ali Shah, Babu Allah Rakhio and others also spoke on the occasion.
CANE COMMISSIONER: Sindh Cane Commissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch notified here on Tuesday that he had not authorized any sugar mill or the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Sindh zone, to demarcate areas.
He made it clear that if the Sindh PSMA or sugar mills carved out any zones, it would be violation of the law and would not be tolerated.
He advised cane growers to sell their produce according to their own will to any sugar mill. He said that if any sugar mill refused to purchase sugarcane on the basis of zone, action would be taken against the mill under the Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950.
He asked DPOs of Mirpurkhas, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Thatta, Tando Allahyar and Sanghar to remove illegal check-posts established by sugar mills in their areas to enforce the zoning system.
He told growers to register their complaints in this regard with the secretary for agriculture on telephone numbers 021-9211462-9211468 or Sindh cane commission’s number 022-9200243.
