Home ›› 11 Sep 2021 ›› Nation
The livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers, workers and employees of one of the pioneering sugar mill of the country, Setabganj Sugar Mill, is now under threat following its closure since December last year.
In a bid to modernise state-owned sugar mills in the country, the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation decided to close its operation and five other sugar mills in December.
The decision sparked protests among sugarcane growers and workers who now fear losing their jobs. Since then, the farmers have been counting huge losses and remain in uncertainty about their future.
The Setabganj Sugar Mill was established in 1933 on 3,860 hectares of land in Setabganj of Dinajpur. Since then, it has facilitated hundreds of sugarcane farmers in the district and created employment for locals.
However, as the mill has been shut down since the decision came out in December, farmers who are cultivating sugarcane on 5,000 hectares of land with a target of harvesting 45,000 tonnes.
According to sources in the mill, thousands of farmers, workers and 750 people who used to work in the mill are now unemployed due to the closure. With the cessation of sugarcane threshing, there is also a risk of an increase in the prices of sugar and molasses.
The workers have been protesting the closure of the mills following the government order on December 2, 2020, which said that production at the sugar mills in the six state-run sugar mills would remain suspended until further notice.
Addressing the issue, Setabganj Sugar Mill Workers’ Union President Prashant Kumar Chouhan said they would continue the protest demanding payment of their arrears.
He also said the authorities concerned should have notified the farmers before the beginning of this year’s cultivation, as their crop will be ruined if not used or bought by the sugar mill.
He added that the corporation has decided to close down the mill to cover up its corruption.
Echoing his remarks, Faizul Alam Chowdhury, president of Chashi Kalyan Samiti, said if this mill remains closed, it will affect the overall economy of the district as many would go jobless.
However, Humayun Kabir, managing director of the mill, told The Business Post that they had contacted the local Member of Parliament Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, who also is the State Minister for Shipping, about the matter, and he promised to take all possible steps to reopen the mill and mitigate the crisis.
He also said that if the government takes a sustainable plan to save the mill, the losses can be turned into profit in no time, and thousands of people associated with the mill will be facilitated.
In addition to that, , the education of 390 students who study at the primary and secondary level school at present, run and finance by the mill, is under threat as it can be declared shut down anytime by the authorities concerned.
With the school, training centre, medical centre, officers club – which were established to facilitate the sugarcane farmers, workers, employees, officials of the mill – has been shut down.
