HYDERABAD, Nov 9: Activists of the Sindh Small Growers Association here on Sunday took out a procession from Hyder Chowk to the press club against the refusal of sugar mills to start the crushing season on time.
Speaking on the occasion, SSGA president Dewan Arumal, Ghulam Mustafa Leghari, Piral Majeedano, Arbab Wazir Memon and others rejected the price of sugar cane fixed by the government at the rate of Rs41 per 40kg.
They said it appeared as if the Sindh government was supporting the sugar mill owners. They said it was clear from the notification issued by the Sindh government, which did not mention anything about the payment of dues to the growers by the mill owners.
Not only this, they said, but also the date of the commencement of sugarcane crushing season and the payment of quality premium in future were also missing in the notification.
Rejecting the price of Rs41 per 40kg, they demanded that minimum price of sugarcane should be fixed at Rs43 per 40 kg and the mill owners should be directed to pay quality premium to the growers.
They demanded the government should ensure the payment of outstanding arrears of Rs3 billion which were being withheld by the sugar mills.
The farmers’ leaders announced a protest programme which would start from Nov 13 by staging a protest sit-in at the gate of Shah Murad Sugar Mills, Jhoke Sharif.
The relevant notification issued by the Sindh agriculture department on Nov 4, a copy of which has been obtained by this correspondent reads: “In exercise of powers conferred by the sub-section (ii) of section-16 of the Sugar Factories Control Act 1950, the government of Sindh is pleased to determine the minimum price of sugar cane at the rate of Rs41 per 40 kg for the crushing season 2003-4”.
The notification is totally silent on the date of starting the crushing season as well as the payment of quality premium.
BILORY MINOR: The Tail-end Farmers Association of Bilory Minor has appealed to the Sindh government for the construction of a head regulator of the minor at the RD-995 of the Rohri Canal to resolve the perennial problem of water shortage.
Talking to this correspondent here on Sunday, the office-bearers of the association, Haji Ali Mohammad Pahore, Mian Abdullah Shaikh, Mohammad Ayub Burdi, Ali Ahmed Dhamach and others said the tail- end growers had been facing a shortage of water for the last 30 years.
They said the PC-I of the scheme namely supplementing Rahuki distributary through Bilory Minor, was approved by the Sindh government as far back as June 30, 1982.
They said the entire work was executed but the head regulator of the minor was not constructed as approved in the PC-I due to political influence.
As such, they said, the tail-end growers of the Rahuki Distributary and the Bilory Minor were being deprived of their water share.
They claimed the executive engineer, Hala division and Naseer division, had also approved the case of the growers.