Anisul Islam Noor:
Rice mill owners are on the verge of shutting their mills due to drastic fall of buyers following the ongoing hartal and blockade.
If the situation continues to deteriorate, experts fear that the mill owners will gradually become loan defaulters.
Jamil Uddin, a mill owner from Khajnagar of Kushtia said he had no option but to close his mill three weeks ago. He invested Tk20 lakh to start the rice crushing business. For this, he borrowed loans from banks.
“I am almost undone,” said Jamil. “I am afraid of becoming bankrupt. The payment of wages to my labourers has become irregular. I am scared of my future.”
Like other traders, most of the mill owners will pay heavily for the nationwide non-stop blockade. The BNP alliance enforced it 32 days ago to press home its demand for fresh national polls under a neutral caretaker government.
The story of Jamil is not at all different from thousands of other rice millers, as already 80 percent of them have already suspended their business.
There are more than 17,000 rice mills across the country and most of them are located in the northern region, according Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mill Owners Association.
The agreement Jamil signed with a rice wholesaler of Badamtoli in Dhaka for supply of rice has now been suspended. It means that the supply chain of foods has broken down, pushing the rice prices up in the capital and lower in the rural areas. Consequently, it helps fuel the food inflation that stood at 6.07 percent in January from December’s 5.86 percent.
“More than 80 percent mills were already closed down because of the transportation crisis,” said KM Layek Ali, Secretary General of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mill Owners Association.
Rice mill owners are on the verge of shutting their mills due to drastic fall of buyers following the ongoing hartal and blockade.
If the situation continues to deteriorate, experts fear that the mill owners will gradually become loan defaulters.
Jamil Uddin, a mill owner from Khajnagar of Kushtia said he had no option but to close his mill three weeks ago. He invested Tk20 lakh to start the rice crushing business. For this, he borrowed loans from banks.
“I am almost undone,” said Jamil. “I am afraid of becoming bankrupt. The payment of wages to my labourers has become irregular. I am scared of my future.”
Like other traders, most of the mill owners will pay heavily for the nationwide non-stop blockade. The BNP alliance enforced it 32 days ago to press home its demand for fresh national polls under a neutral caretaker government.
The story of Jamil is not at all different from thousands of other rice millers, as already 80 percent of them have already suspended their business.
There are more than 17,000 rice mills across the country and most of them are located in the northern region, according Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mill Owners Association.
The agreement Jamil signed with a rice wholesaler of Badamtoli in Dhaka for supply of rice has now been suspended. It means that the supply chain of foods has broken down, pushing the rice prices up in the capital and lower in the rural areas. Consequently, it helps fuel the food inflation that stood at 6.07 percent in January from December’s 5.86 percent.
“More than 80 percent mills were already closed down because of the transportation crisis,” said KM Layek Ali, Secretary General of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mill Owners Association.
