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HYDERABAD, Sept 1: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has demanded that the Sindh government should enforce its notification of Dec 24, 2002, fixing the minimum price of sugarcane at Rs43 per 40 kilograms.
The demand was made at the weekly meeting of the SCA held at its secretariat here on Sunday.
The chamber pointed out that sugar mills were paying Rs40 per 40kg of sugarcane to growers. In this way, Rs1.41 billion of growers was outstanding against sugar mills. An amount of Rs1.8 billion of quality premium was also outstanding against the mills, it added.
The meeting urged the government to direct sugar mills to clear dues of growers by Sept 15 to avoid confrontation between growers and sugar mill owners.
It also reminded the Sindh government that according to the Sugarcane Factories Act, sugar mills had to start the crushing season from Oct 1 each year.
It said as per law growers were to be paid the price of sugarcane in one week of the delivery.
Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah presided over the meeting.
SIDA: A delegation of the Frontier Irrigation and Drainage Authority, led by its managing director, M. Shahzad Arbab, met the managing director, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority, Rafiq Safi Munshey, here on Monday.
Mr Munshey gave a detailed briefing to the delegation, comprising NWFP National Drainage Programme coordinator Aman Gul Khattak, Planning and Development Section chief Dr Kazim Niaz and Swabi irrigation executive engineer Niaz Sarwar Baloch, for two hours on the working of Sida. He offered full cooperation of Sida to raise the structure of Fida.
Mr Arbab later spoke at a meeting of growers and hailed the working of Sida. He said on the pattern of Sida, farmers’ organizations would also be formed in the Frontier.The delegation also visited channels of the Nara Canal.
HESCO: Hesco chief engineer Abdul Rasheed Khan has suspended Abdul Majeed Mangi, SDO, Ranipur, Mehmood Mangi, SDO, Thul, and Aijaz Channa, SDO, Salehpat, for their failure to provide uninterrupted power supply to consumers.
