Jute industry victim of myths, wrong govt decisions
FE Report | Monday, 28 February 2011
FE Report
Attempts have been made to destroy the jute sector by dishing out myths, propaganda and taking wrong decisions, which has deprived the country of $ 4.0 billion in export loss per year, speakers at a roundtable discussion said Sunday. They said that unwise decisions made by the past governments have worked as a force to destroy the country's export-oriented industry and left the country in a web of loans. "If the decisions had been taken in the interest of our people, the sector could have been able to export the product worth above $ 4.0 billion now," they said. The remarks were made at the discussion titled 'Jute Economy of Bangladesh: Fabricated Lie, Deconstructed Potential' held at CIRDAP auditorium in the city, organised jointly by ActionAid and Jute Protection Committee. Hasanul Haque Inu, chairman, parliamentary standing committee for posts and telecommunications ministry, Nazrul Islam Manju , chairman, parliamentary standing committee on communication ministry, T.D. Mitra, chairman, Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), Utpal Kumar Das, deputy secretary, textiles and jute, economist MM Akash, Shahidullah Chowdhury, president, Trade Union Centre, Shirin Akhter, president, Jatyio Sramik Jote (a national union of workers), among others, took part in the discussion. Asgar Ali Sabri, head, Just and Democratic Governance, ActionAid, chaired the session and Firoz Ahmed, president, Jute Protection Committee, coordinated the programme. Criticising the roles of the governments, Inu said that the decisions made by the governments to close or leave jute mills impulsively to the private sector, have been proved wrong as those were not able to make the sector profitable, although the sector had enough potential. Mr. Inu emphasised decreasing the bank interest for the public jute mills which now stands at above 14 per cent, more than double that the private mills pay. He assured that the present government is working for making the sector stand on its own feet again. BJMC chairman T.D. Mitra emphasised proper utilisation of the Mongla Port for jute shipment which could minimise the shipment cost drastically. He urged the government to provide BJMC with 'only' 30 megawatt power supply to keep its jute mills running. Laying emphasis on proper management of jute mills, the BJMC chairman said, "The textile college banished the jute engineering from its syllabus in 1978 which created a vacuum for technicians. BJMC has a lack of manpower also, as the official recruitment has been on hold since 1994". Mr.Mitra assured that all the closed jute mills would be opened soon and the sector would stand up concretely in next three years. Mr. Akash said, "We have to first detect the problems, then we could solve them." "A national jute policy, derived from real national interest, is needed for the jute sector," he said. He also emphasised implementation of the "mandatory packaging act" to capture the local market and make familiar the jute product use locally. ActionAid's Amanur Rahman, and Firoz Ahmed presented the keynote paper which disclosed that the game for destroying the sector started in 1982-85 when 34 jut mills were given to private sector according to the World Bank's (WB's) prescription known as Jute Sector Structural Adjustment Programme(JSAP). And the final destruction began in 1994, when the country signed a $ 175 million treaty with the WB in the name of Jute Sector Adjustment Credit for reforming the sector. The main points of the treaty were to dismiss 20,000 workers by 1994, giving 18 out of 29 public jute mills to private sector, leaving the sector far from the public (government) domain etc. Workers leader Shahidullah Chowdhury revealed that the conspiracy in closing Adamji Jute Mill began in the end of 1996, when the then government closed 1600 looms out of a total 3400 at Adamji. "The drama started in 1996 and we saw the climax in 2002," he said.
Attempts have been made to destroy the jute sector by dishing out myths, propaganda and taking wrong decisions, which has deprived the country of $ 4.0 billion in export loss per year, speakers at a roundtable discussion said Sunday. They said that unwise decisions made by the past governments have worked as a force to destroy the country's export-oriented industry and left the country in a web of loans. "If the decisions had been taken in the interest of our people, the sector could have been able to export the product worth above $ 4.0 billion now," they said. The remarks were made at the discussion titled 'Jute Economy of Bangladesh: Fabricated Lie, Deconstructed Potential' held at CIRDAP auditorium in the city, organised jointly by ActionAid and Jute Protection Committee. Hasanul Haque Inu, chairman, parliamentary standing committee for posts and telecommunications ministry, Nazrul Islam Manju , chairman, parliamentary standing committee on communication ministry, T.D. Mitra, chairman, Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), Utpal Kumar Das, deputy secretary, textiles and jute, economist MM Akash, Shahidullah Chowdhury, president, Trade Union Centre, Shirin Akhter, president, Jatyio Sramik Jote (a national union of workers), among others, took part in the discussion. Asgar Ali Sabri, head, Just and Democratic Governance, ActionAid, chaired the session and Firoz Ahmed, president, Jute Protection Committee, coordinated the programme. Criticising the roles of the governments, Inu said that the decisions made by the governments to close or leave jute mills impulsively to the private sector, have been proved wrong as those were not able to make the sector profitable, although the sector had enough potential. Mr. Inu emphasised decreasing the bank interest for the public jute mills which now stands at above 14 per cent, more than double that the private mills pay. He assured that the present government is working for making the sector stand on its own feet again. BJMC chairman T.D. Mitra emphasised proper utilisation of the Mongla Port for jute shipment which could minimise the shipment cost drastically. He urged the government to provide BJMC with 'only' 30 megawatt power supply to keep its jute mills running. Laying emphasis on proper management of jute mills, the BJMC chairman said, "The textile college banished the jute engineering from its syllabus in 1978 which created a vacuum for technicians. BJMC has a lack of manpower also, as the official recruitment has been on hold since 1994". Mr.Mitra assured that all the closed jute mills would be opened soon and the sector would stand up concretely in next three years. Mr. Akash said, "We have to first detect the problems, then we could solve them." "A national jute policy, derived from real national interest, is needed for the jute sector," he said. He also emphasised implementation of the "mandatory packaging act" to capture the local market and make familiar the jute product use locally. ActionAid's Amanur Rahman, and Firoz Ahmed presented the keynote paper which disclosed that the game for destroying the sector started in 1982-85 when 34 jut mills were given to private sector according to the World Bank's (WB's) prescription known as Jute Sector Structural Adjustment Programme(JSAP). And the final destruction began in 1994, when the country signed a $ 175 million treaty with the WB in the name of Jute Sector Adjustment Credit for reforming the sector. The main points of the treaty were to dismiss 20,000 workers by 1994, giving 18 out of 29 public jute mills to private sector, leaving the sector far from the public (government) domain etc. Workers leader Shahidullah Chowdhury revealed that the conspiracy in closing Adamji Jute Mill began in the end of 1996, when the then government closed 1600 looms out of a total 3400 at Adamji. "The drama started in 1996 and we saw the climax in 2002," he said.