South Punjab: ‘Illegal sugar mills damaging cotton sector’

LAHORE: Setting up unlawful sugar mills in south Punjab will have detrimental effects on the cotton and ginning industries of this area. This was stated by Citizen Commission Convener for Economic Development Mujtaba Amjad Pirzada in a statement.

He said that south Punjab produced 5 million bales of cotton during the previous season. More than 500 cotton ginning factories are operational that reflects the volume of cotton production in this area. Despite stay orders of higher courts, unlawful construction of sugar mills in Bahawalpur and Muzzafargarh is being carried out, blatantly disregarding the imperatives of the national economy and local needs.

He said that incessant construction of sugar mills is destroying the economic balance of the area and, consequently, the land is barren speedily due to salinity and water logging.

He further stated that the construction of sugar mills is disregarding national laws, rules and regulations, and hurting the textile and cotton industries.

He emphasised that the cotton industry holds an important place in the economy and hence, any destructive effect could create serious repercussions.

“If the cartel of sugar mills is not stopped, it would result in  the destruction of the cotton ginning industry, consequently more than 5,000 families connected with ginning and cotton industry would be unemployed.”

He urged the government to take immediate steps to address this issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.

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Unlawful construction continues in Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh