August 07, 2008	Thursday	Sha’aban 4, 1429

SANGHAR, Aug 6: Members of district council on Wednesday demanded action against a landlord who had occupied a rest house of the Irrigation Department in Khadro and demolished the building built in 1898.

Council members including Dr Sharif, Mohammad Hassan Chandio, Noor Hussain Khaskheli and Umer Khan said at the session presided over by convener Dr Mehmood Ahmed Rajput that the landlord had also carried away the building material after demolishing the rest house.

Ismail Dars said the fake fertilisers, pesticides and ill-planned government policies were doing great harm to agriculture sector. Ginning factories had been closed and cotton dealers were looting the farmers by bringing down cotton prices, he said, demanding abolition of taxes on ginning factories.

The members demanded restoration of NCHD teachers and urged the district government to take back control of basic and rural health centres from NGOs.

GINNER’S protest: Cotton ginning factories were closed for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday in protest against new taxes imposed by the government on the small industry.

The drivers of cotton laden trucks who have been waiting outside the ginning factories for last many days blocked Sanghar-Mirpurkhas road in protest. They were also joined by farmers.

The vice-chairman of the Pakistan Ginners Association Seth Lal Chand Kohistani said that the ginners would have to pay Rs70 per 40 kilogramme as tax and the burden would have to be passed on to farmers because no ginner could afford to pay this huge amount from his pocket.

He said that the strike would continue till the abolition of taxes.