HYDERABAD: Row over sugarcane price intensifies
HYDERABAD, Dec 18: A dispute over sugarcane price has worsened after a notification fixing cane rate at Rs60 per 40kgs and mill owners deciding to close their units and growers planning to take over mills from Dec 23. In Hyderabad, the Sindh Sugarcane Growers Association at a meeting held here on Sunday took stock of the situation arising out of a decision of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Sindh zone, to observe strike from Sunday.
The meeting, presided over by SSGA president Syed Qurban Ali Shah, condemned the attitude of sugar mills. It said mills had ceased production following a notification fixing minimum rate of sugarcane at Rs60 per 40 kilograms.
It pointed out that sugar mills located in upper Sindh bordering Punjab had been purchasing sugarcane for Rs70 per 40kgs plus transportation charges from growers of southern Punjab. It failed to understand why sugar mills were not prepared to pay a reasonable price to growers of Sindh.
It blamed mill owners for hatching a conspiracy against growers of Sindh and demanded that the government should direct respective DCOs to appoint administrators in each mill to run their affairs till the end of the crushing season.
The meeting also constituted action committees, comprising sugarcane growers, for taking over possession of mills from Dec 23. It said the Sindh PSMA would be responsible for the consequences.
It assured mill employees that their interests would be taken care of during the period the mills were run by growers.
THATTA: In pursuance of a PSMA decision, all four sugar mills of Thatta - Dewan, Shah Murad, Al-Asif and Laar – stopped crushing sugarcane on Sunday morning.
Talking to Dawn, managements of the mills said they had taken the decision in protest against the Sindh government for increasing cane rate from Rs48 per 40kgs to Rs60 per 40kgs without taking them into confidence.
In a press release issued here, district Sindh Abadgar Association president Syed Shahzad Shah said growers would go to the court for compensation for their losses if mills did not resume sugarcane crushing.
He said mills had suspended cane crushing in violation of rules because they had not given any notice to growers.
NAWABSHAH: All three sugar mills of the district - Habib, Sakrand and Al-Noor sugar – will stop sugarcane crushing from Monday to protest against the increase in cane price by the government.
Managements of the mills told journalists that they had stopped issuing new indents and would close the mills after crushing the existing stock of cane.
Talking to Dawn, the press secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board’s Nawabshah chapter, Syed Ali Mohammad Shah Lakyari, welcomed the decision of the Sindh government.
He regretted that sugar mills had neither paid quality premium to growers nor sugar cess funds had been used for welfare of growers.
He urged the government to implement its decision of increasing cane price so that growers could get some relief.
BADIN: The Badin sugar industry is on the verge of ruination because of the prevailing unrest among growers, mill owners and farm workers due to the dispute over sugarcane price.
Growers criticized mill owners for not paying Rs60 to Rs70 per 40kgs of sugarcane and offering Rs43 per 40kgs of sugarcane. They said the mill owners were blackmailing the government.
They warned that they would again start a campaign against mills by staging sit-ins on roads and surrounding the mills.
They urged the government to take action against mill managements for allegedly violating the sugarcane act and harassing farmers.
They also criticized the federal minister for agriculture for not intervening into the matter and resolving their problem.
Talking to journalists on Saturday, growers Mohammad Khan Sarejo, Abdul Jabbar Gopang and others said that after failure of talks between sugar mills managements and growers over sugarcane price, growers suspended supply of cane to mills. They said they would not sell their produce for Rs43 per 40kgs.
They said they would stop cultivating sugarcane if mill owners did not change their attitude.
They alleged that millers were not paying liabilities of growers and forcing them to supply cane. They warned that the situation would worsen if mill owners started blackmailing growers.
Mill owners warned to close their units if the deadlock over cane price continued. They said cane crushing had already suspended.
The Dewan Sugar Mills, Ansari Sugar Mills, Army Welfare Sugar Mills, Pangrio Sugar Mills and the Mirza Sugar Mills of the district are facing crisis of sugarcane.
Sugarcane has been cultivated on 126,000 acres in the district and the produce is loosing weight due to the delay in harvesting. Growers will sustain huge losses if their crops are not lifted.