HYDERABAD, Feb 23: Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani has demanded that the government should either ban import of edible oil or increase import duty on edible oil to encourage local production.

He was speaking at a growers' meeting organized by Seth Saman Mal, owner of a local factory, here on Wednesday. He said cultivation of sunflower should be encouraged and water charges on this crop should be abolished because it required very little water.

Mr Nizamani said sunflower had been cultivated on more than 400,000 acres of land in Sindh which far exceeded the target fixed by the government. He demanded that supply of water to tail-end farmers should be ensured, sale of fertilizer in the black market be checked and hybrid seed be prepared within the country.

The SAB chief regretted that agricultural economy of the country was in crisis but the government was least interested in promotion of this important sector. In his welcome speech, Seth Saman Mal assured farmers that they would be paid adequate price for their sunflower produce.

Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mehmood Ahmad, former president Abdul Razzaq Memon, Dr Zulfiqar Yousfani and others also spoke on the occasion.

TRADERS: The Azeemushan Cloth Market Association and other traders' organizations have expressed concern over the proposed conversion of the building of the Muslim Commercial Bank, New Cloth Market branch, into a shopping centre.

They appealed to the federal finance minister, State Bank governor, MCB chairman and the Hyderabad city nazim to stop the conspiracy of the builders' mafia and MCB officials to convert the building into a shopping centre. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Mohammad Ashfaq Qureshi and other traders of the area said the business community would strongly resist the move.