Labour leaders demand reopening of Adamjee Jute Mills

Leaders of labour and peasant organizations and rights activists on Thursday demanded immediate reopening of the Adamjee Jute Mills and fixing the rate of raw jute at Tk 2000 per mound (40 kilogram) ahead of the the jute harvest season.

They made the demand at a discussion on 'Challenges in Jute Sector: Our Responsibilities' jointly organized by Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood and Nagarik Sanghati at Mukti Bhaban in city's Paltan area to mark the ninth anniversary of closure of AJM.

The then government of BNP-led four-party alliance had declared the AJM closed on June 30, 2002.

The industries minister, Dilip Barua, who addressed the meeting as chief guest, did not respond to the demand directly, but said it would be difficult to reopen the mills that have been once closed.

'There were national and international conspiracies to destroy the country's jute industry… But the present government has taken the jute sector as a potential sector and is trying to restore its lost glory,'he said.

The minister said that the government was trying to ensure that the farmers can get fair prices for jute, but it was not possible to meet the farmers' expectation overnight.

He said the government would encourage establishing industries in the private sector and opined that the jute industry should be modernised with advanced technology to ensure higher productivity.

Referring to urea price hike, Barua said that the government had fixed the urea rate at Tk 20 per kilogram while production rate was Tk 34 per kilogram.

Addressing the ceremony, National Jute Commission member Shahidullah Chowdhury said the BNP-led four-party alliance government had closed down the AJM. But on the other hand, the Awami League during their 1996-2001 regime, had begun to downsize the mill by sacking its workers.

Jibananda Jayanta who presented the keynote paper at the discussion suggested for considering the  interest of the country and public to adopt a policy to ensure mandatory use of jute goods and adopt measures for development of seed, improving technology and expanding local and international market for jute.

Chaired by CSRL member secretary Ziaul Haque Mukta, the discussion was also addressed by Rezaul Karim of International Jute Study Group, Jatiya Krishak Jote general secretary Anwarul Islam Babu, Jago Bangladesh Garments Shramik Federation president Md Baharane Sultan Bahar and Nagarik Sanghati general secretary Sharifuzzaman Sharif.

Source : New Age