HYDERABAD, Nov 16: A committee of contractors has refused to transport sugarcane to mills on rates announced by former Sindh sugarcane commissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch.

It is learnt that the committee has warned that if any contractor lifted sugarcane at these rates he would be fined Rs500,000.

The committee made it clear to the cane commissioner that the rates announced by him and sugar mill owners for transportation of sugarcane were not acceptable to contractors and transporters.

It said sugarcane would not be lifted till judicious rates were fixed for transportation.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, a spokesman for the committee, Rahim Farooqui, said refusal of contractors to lift sugarcane was the reason that most of sugar mills in Sindh had failed to start crushing.

He said that for want of transport in Sindh, over 3,000 trucks were brought by contractors every year from the NWFP during the crushing season for transportation of sugarcane.

Mr Farooqui said that since transportation charges had been reduced by the cane commissioner and sugar mill owners despite increase in the price of diesel oil, the jirga committee had decided not to lift sugarcane unless judicious transportation charges were announced.