Rice millers in C'nawabganj incur huge loss
Rice millers in C'nawabganj incur huge loss
Many workers have become jobless as blockade disrupts supply chain, production
Rice millers in the district are incurring huge losses due to non-stop countrywide blockade enforced by BNP-led 20-party alliance.
Thousands of labourers of different rice mills have also become temporarily jobless as many rice millers have stopped or lessened production due to problem in sending the food grain to Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and other places.
"I have suspended operation of four of the seven boiling units of my rice mill due to transport problem amid countrywide blockade," said Akbar Hossain, owner of Nabab Auto Rice and Feed Mills Pvte Ltd at Atahar in Sadar upazila.
"I usually collect paddy from Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Dinajpur. After husking it in my mill, I supply the rice to the capital and other places but both procurement and supply works are now badly disturbed," said the owner of the large rice mill.
Monsur Rahman, owner of Sagor Auto Rice Mill in the town, Mozammel Haque, owner of Haque Auto Rice Mill, and Mofizudddin, owner of Mafiz Auto Rice Mill in Atahar area of Sadar upazila, said they now produce much smaller amounts of rice that is supplied to markets within short distances only.
They are incurring losses as they have to continue paying labourers' wages, electricity bills and interests on bank loans, said the rice mill owners.
Several rice mill workers including Torikul, Atikur, Anarul Islam and Habibur Rahman said they are passing hard days with their families as they have become jobless due to decreased production in rice mills.
Some 15,000 labourers work in around 250 rice mills in the district and nearly 100 truckloads of rice is usually sent to the capital and different districts daily from Chapainawabganj, said Erfan Ali, owner of Erfan Agro Food Ltd and Raju Rice Mill.
But now only 10 to 20 trucks carry rice outside the district as truckers feel insecure to rent out their vehicles fearing vandalism and arson attacks by blockaders and the fair has increased by 100 to 150 percent, said Erfan, also president of rice mill owners' association in the district.