BJMC retakes People's Jute Mills in Khulna
People's Jute Mills at Khalishpur in Khulna City has been returned to the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), much to the joy and satisfaction of workers and employees.
Hearing the news that private concern Kazi Firms Group formally handed over the jute mill to the BJMC on Wednesday afternoon, a few thousand workers and employees brought out a jubilant procession at Khalishpur, braving biting cold in the evening.
They congratulated the government for placing the jute mill again under BJMC.
Closure of the mill on August 1 in 2007 left 3013 permanent workers and 294 employees unemployed.
A notification issued on July 11 the same year cited corruption and mismanagement as reasons for shutting down the mill, identified as a 'losing enterprise'.
Kazi Firms of Dhaka took lease of the mill on condition of paying Tk 6 crore and 13 lakh per annum under an agreement signed with BJMC as part of privatisation programme of the last caretaker government.
Amid mounting unrest among workers and employees who alleged irregularities in payment of wages and salaries and high-handed behaviour of officials of the management, Kazi Firms suspended production at the mill on July 18 this year, making over three thousand workers jobless again.
Later, the government formed a 25-member committed to carry out a feasibility study before taking the mill back from the private concern.
Following submission of the report on findings of the feasibility study to BJMC chairman on December 22, Kazi Firms handed over the mill at 4:00pm on Wednesday.
People's Jute Mills will go into full operation from January under full control of BJMC, lawmaker elected from Khulna-4 Molla Jalaluddin, also a member of parliamentary standing committee on the jute ministry, told this correspondent.
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