Dhaka, Sept 17 (BDNEWS) – The government has decided to resume commercial operations of the closed but profitable state-run mills ahead of the next national elections following pressure from the ruling party lawmakers and trade union leaders.
"The government is in dire straits and facing no alternative but to resume operations of the closed mills to please the voters," a ruling party member of the parliamentary standing committee on Ministry of Industry told BDNEWS, requesting anonymity.
Deputy Minister for Industries Abdus Salam Pintu said: "We want to reopen the state-owned industries in joint venture with private sector."
As a part of the move, the government Wednesday reopened the Khulna Hardboard Mills, which was closed down on December 15, 2002.
Ministry sources said the reopened hardboard mills has a capacity to produce 21 million square feet of hardboard per annum against the country's demand of 20 million square feet.
"The government was compelled to revise its decision due to intense pressure from the ruling party lawmakers and trade union leaders," another member of the standing committee on Ministry of Industry told BDNEWS Saturday.
"The ruling BNP-led coalition is in serious popularity crisis in the areas where the closed state-run mills and factories are located," Shahidulla Chowdhury, joint convenor of the Jute, Cotton and Textile Mill Workers Sangram Parishad, said.
With the reopening of the Khulna Hardboard Mills, the government has taken initiative to resume operation of the North Bengal Paper Mills, said the deputy minister for industry.
"We have already floated tender to sell out part of the shares of the North Bengal Paper Mills to run it in joint venture with private sector. A private party has already shown interest in the venture," Abdus Salam Pintu said, adding "We will take a decision on the matter soon."
On the basis of the success of the North Bengal Paper Mills, Pintu said the same initiative would be taken for Khulna Newsprint Mills and Dhaka Leather Factory.
Asked, he admitted that these concerns were all profitable. But, he failed to say anything on resuming operations of the closed jute mills.
Soon after taking office in 2001, the four-party alliance government shut down the operations of the Adamjee Jute Mills, the largest in Asia, and eight other jute mills in Khulna-Jessore region, besides Khulna Hardboard Mills, Khulna Newsprint Mills and North Bengal Paper Mills.
Some of the closed jute mills resumed their operations partly, but they are yet to be able to start full operations because of financial and other reasons, labour leader Shahidulla Chowdhury said.
Official sources said the bank loans and other liabilities of the closed mills are huge and the private sector entrepreneurs are not interested to buy these mills with the liabilities.
Jobless workers of the closed jute, cotton, textiles and sugar mills have been demonstrating against the government for the shutdown of the mills for last several years.
BDNEWS/1836 hrs.
