Oldest K-P sugar mill closed down

Owners blame ‘lack of cane’ as sole reason

MARDAN:

The oldest sugar mill of K-P, Premier Sugar Mills, has been closed down due to non-availability of sugarcane leaving thousands of permanent and temporary workers jobless.

The mill was unable to work its full capacity as farmers were reluctant to sell their produce to the mills despite the fact that it offered double the market price.

Established 70 years ago, Premier Sugar Mills had a daily production capacity of 10000 tons. It bought 10 million tons of sugarcane in the crushing season starting in October and ending on February 28 in the past. This crushing season, however, was a difficult one because famers did not sell their sugarcane to mills. Two other sugar mills in Mardan have also been closed down months ago.

“Farmers prefer jaggery production over selling their cane to mills. This is simple because it is profitable for them. Mardan and Charsadda districts produce the world’s best jaggery which has been in demand in K-P, tribal districts and especially in Afghanistan,” said an employee of the mills while speaking to The Express Tribune, adding that PSM was the first mill of the district.

“There is around 35 million acres of land in the district sufficient enough to run several large mills but this is not happening. Now all the three sugar mills in Mardan are shut down,” he informed.

PSM Mardan has 1200 permanent employees and hundreds of others are employed on a daily wage basis in the crushing season.

“It has been in troubled waters for the past one decade. Government has no policy for its sugar industry and farmers. Jaggery production is a profitable business so the number of jaggery production units is increasing each passing year, leaving the sugar mills with no cane,” he informed.

The general manager of the sugar mills Jamil Khanzada said that establishing a sugar mill requires huge efforts and a local industrialist who is also the former chief minister, Mir Afzal Khan, established it after years of struggle.

“The industry pays billion in taxes while jaggery production is tax free completely. There is no quality check on them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2021.