October 04, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 10, 1427

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HYDERABAD, Oct 3: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim warned on Monday that the government would neither bring down the sugarcane price fixed at Rs67 per 40kgs nor extend the date for the start of crushing season.

The sugar mills were required to start crushing from October 1 but the majority of them had not abided by it citing various reasons.

The chief minister was stated this while speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the Sindh Farmers’ Association at Nairunkot Resort.

He said that he knew fully well sugar mill owners had a lot of political clout but warned that they would not be allowed to challenge the writ of the government.

‘Provincial governments in the Punjab and the rest of the provinces, too, fix the prices for sugarcane without fear of meeting any opposition from the sugar mill owners but in Sindh they (mill owners) create controversies over the issue to serve their own interests at the expense of growers,’ he said.

He said that the peoples’ and growers’ interests were dearer to him than those of vested interests and capitalists and vowed that he would not compromise on the fixed price and crushing schedule.

Taking into consideration the Punjab fixing cane price at Rs65 per 40 kg the price of sugarcane in Sindh was well justified because the Sindh’s cane had greater quantity of sucrose and the growers had to arrange on their own for transporting the produce to the sugar mills.

He pointed out that the crushing season, under the relevant laws, was to start from October 1 but many people did not know it because the previous governments were in the habit of hiding the information from people to protect the interests of mill owners.

Dr Arbab said that the sugar mill owners were trying to create a zoning system with regard to crushing season but warned that he would not allow them to do so.

He advised the growers to start harvesting their crop and supplying it to the Army Welfare Sugar Mills and Ansari Sugar Mills, which had already started the crushing process.

The agriculture sector was confronted with two problems, water shortage, which was due to natural causes, and maladministration, which was more harmful, he said adding that he had succeeded in resolving the problem to a great extent.

In his welcome address, the president of newly-formed Sindh Farmers Association, Ghulam Nabi Morai, advised the sugar mill owners to extend the crushing period from 90 days to six months and recalled that in its heyday the agriculture sector’s contribution to the GDP stood at 47 per cent, which had now dropped to only 25 per cent.

He said that the neglect by the governments was the main reason behind the sector’s decline.

The ceremony was also attended by District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil, MPAs, Ms Nuzhat Pathan and Ms Sharjeela Legahri, former MNA Kirshanchand Parwani, Syed Shahabuddin Shah, PML leaders and a large number of growers.