The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Terming state-owned jute mills as 'losing concerns', the Textile and Jute Adviser Md Anwarul Iqbal yesterday declared leasing out five state-owned jute mills to private management for five years.

Such initiative by the government will create employment for more than 6000 people, the Jute Adviser Anwarul said while speaking at a Press Conference at the Textile and Jute Ministry Auditorium in the Secretariat.

The People's Jute Mills has been leased out to M/s Kazi Farms Ltd at Tk 6.13 crore annually, RR Jute Mills at Tk 1.50 crore and M M Jute Mills at Tk 1.26 crore to Nature Back limited, Karnaphuli Jute Mills at Tk 3.11 crore and FKCF jute mills at Tk 0.48 crore to M/s Saad Musa Fabrics Ltd.

Besides, the Government has invited tender again to lease out the Kaomi Jute Mills and BDCF Jute Mills as no acceptable bid was available.

"The government will receive Tk 12.48 crore from the five leased out mills as lease money annually," he said adding, "We shall be able to spend the cash for paying outstanding arrears of laid out jute mills' workers and also pay loan of the banks."

"It is the first step to create employment generation of the government in this sector," the Jute Adviser said adding "The government initiative will help to revive the sector."

The productivity of the leasing mills in aggregate will be 33,780 tonnes of jute goods annually, the adviser said.

Iqbal further said that the state-owned jute mills were receiving loosing concerns of the government since independence of the country. The government initiative will help the jute mills to come out of the losing state, he added.

Managing Director of Kazi Farms Ltd Kazi Zahedul Hasan said that they would have needed at least one year to start full swing operation of People's Jute Mills.

"The workers of the mills will work in three shifts and the production will weigh to 100 tonnes to 150 tonnes of jute goods annually," he said.

People's Jute Mills will resume production on July 15, Karnaphuli Jute Mills and FKCF Jute Mills on July 20.

Besides, the RR Jute Mills has started production on July 1 last. The MM Jute Mills will start production by next one month.

The government had shut down the Kaomi Jute Mills, People's Jute Mills and Karnaphuli Jute Mills in July 2007, leaving a total of about 6000 employees and workers jobless while the RR Jute Mill and MM Jute Mills remained operative under bad financial conditions.

Later, the government decided to lease out its closed and loss-making jute mills to the private operators to revitalise the country's public jute sector, the accumulated loss of which has already reached to Tk 50 billion.

Bangladesh's export earning from jute goods stood at 483.62 crore in the fiscal year 2007-08.

Textile and Jute Ministry secretary Abdur Rasid Sarker, Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation Md Atharul Islam and senior official of the Ministry were present at the press conference.