SANGHAR, Aug 7: Cotton ginning factories in the district have not started their operation in protest against new taxes imposed by the government on the small industry.

Drivers of cotton-laden trucks who have been waiting outside the factories for last many days blocked Sanghar-Mirpurkhas road in protest on Wednesday. They were 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.

Lal Chand said that the government had not yet issued working licenses to ginning factories. The strike would continue till the government abolished taxes, he stressed.