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Policy support dearth leads private jute mills to closure

Owners demand facility similar to that of state-owned mills

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
As private sector jute mills are struggling to survive due to lack of policy support from the government, mill owners demand facility similar to that of state-owned mills.
They said the finance ministry is yet to release Tk 53 crore, which was provided by the World Bank in 1997 for reforms in private sector jute mills.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA), a platform of private sector jute mills, alleged that private mills are being made victims of the government's 'dual policy'.
"Private jute mills perform better than public sector ones but the government supports only the loss-making state-owned mills," Serajul Huq Khan,
secretary of the BJMA, said.
He said 25 out of 37 private jute mills were closed in last six years rendering 45,000 workers jobless and the main reason is lack of policy support from the government.
Khan said the government annually provides Tk 200 crore subsidy to the mills run by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) which are incurring huge losses every year.
Twenty eight BJMC-run jute mills have a net cumulative loss and liabilities of Tk 2,529 crore in last 31 years against their total asset of Tk 2,424 crore.
Since independence, 49 out of 77 state-owned mills were either closed down or handed over to their original owners. Last year, the government closed down Adamjee Jute Mills.
On the other hand, the private mill owners said five out of their 12 mills saw profits last year.
"We are contributing to the national exchequer but deprived of support," Khan said.
The BJMA secretary said when new jute mills are being set up in neighbouring India, the local mills being laid off one after another.
Leaders of BJMA at a meeting with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia last September, apprised her of their problems and sought her help. They told the PM to accelerate the process of privatisation of the closed BJMC jute mills.
Earlier, BJMA leaders met Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, principal secretary to the PM, on August 18 and apprised him
of the delay in releasing Tk 53 crore World Bank grant.
They also urged him to implement recommendations of the 'inspection team' formed in 1997 headed by a joint secretary of the jute ministry.
One of the key recommendations of the team was to turn BJMC jute mills into holding companies for preparing them for privatisation.
The BJMA leaders said the jute ministry was yet to sanction Tk 13 lakh for installation of a computer-based data bank in the association's office.
According to Export Promotion Bureau, jute goods worth $55.44 million and raw jute worth $15.6 million were exported during July-September period this year.