Workers of closed sugar mill in distress

DADU, May 11 - Pakistan - Thursday 11 May 2006

Family members of approximately 1,250 affected employees of the Dadu Sugar Mills are facing starvation due to its closure since 1998.

The mill was set up by the government of late prime minister of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977 on the demand of growers and people.

It created job opportunities for 1,250 people in different categories.

Crises began in 1988 when the administration advanced an amount of Rs250 million in loans to different political and influential people and growers for cultivation of sugarcane.

The mill management could recover only half of the advanced loans.

Due to mismanagement and wrong policies, the mill has been lying closed since 1998. Salaries to employees were stopped and gas, electricity, water supply connections to the unit were disconnected due to non-payment.

An affected employee of the mill, Ansar Ahmed Soomro, maintained that the family members of the employees were living in miserable conditions as they were unable to even purchase food for their survival.