Employees unpaid as sugar at mill unpaid

Around 10 thousand tonnes of sugar worth Tk 40 crore remains unsold in Pabna Sugar Mill, making payment of arrear salaries of around 700 employees uncertain before the Eid-ul-Fitr.
The situation has arisen as dealers prefer imported sugar that sells below the government fixed rate and more attractive to consumers, said stakeholders.
“Pabna Sugar Mill produced about 10.5 thousand tonnes of sugar in 2012 and 2013 but the authorised dealers drew only a small amount of it as the imported sugar sells at lower prices than the government rate,” said Kamal Kanti Sarkar, managing director of the mill.
"The government has fixed Tk 40 for a kg of sugar from the mill gate and Tk 42 for imported sugar but the importers secretly sell the item for Tk 38 or 39 a kg. And so, dealers are reluctant to buy the locally produced sugar," he said.
Now 3,000 tonnes of sugar of Natore Sugar Mill is also kept in Pabna Sugar Mill, he added.
Uttam Kumar Kundu, a leading sugar wholesaler of northern districts, said, “Consumers like imported sugar as it looks fresher and more attractive than the item produced in local mills. We sell imported sugar to meet the demand of the customers. Still we are drawing small amounts of sugar from the mill to keep it operational."
Md Rezaul Karim, general manager (Administration) of Pabna Sugar Mill, said, "Fifty tonnes of sugar was sold from the mill gate last week and further sale is expected before the eid. Around 10 thousand tonnes of sugar worth Tk 40 crore has remained unsold here. The salaries of the workers and employees of the mill depend on the sale of the sugar."
“More than seven hundred employees including 400 permanent ones of Pabna Sugar Mill did not get monthly salaries for the last two months. The workers will go for agitation if they do not get salaries before the festival," said Ahmad Ali, secretary of the mill unit of CBA.