Chattogram Bureau :
Production at Karnaphuli Paper Mills (KMP) which remained suspended since August 4 following suspension of gas supply resumed on Thursday.
KPM started producing papers since Thursday morning when gas supply to the mill returned to normalcy, said KPM Shramik Kalyan Parisad CBA general secretary Abdur Razzaque. “Until now, only one out of three machines has begun production,” said MA Kader, the managing director of KPM.
The KPM manager further said that the uncertainty that had arisen due to the suspension of production will soon be over as workers have returned to work with full force. Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited stopped supplying gas to the mill for non-payment of arrears on August 4, reports CBA leader.
KPM authorities alleged that KGDCL stopped gas supply to the mill for payment of arrears of Tk700 crore. But KGDCL denied KPM’s allegation and blamed a technical glitch at the mills’ metering station for the shutdown.
“There is a technical glitch in KPM’s distribution line. KPM has to repair it on its own,” said Khaiz Ahmed Mozumber, Managing Director of KGDCLA KPM official said that due to the recent shutdown, the mill had already incurred a loss of nearly Tk 5.24 crore in the last 25 days. Established in 1953 at Chandraghona in Chattogram.
The KPM used to be the largest paper mill in Asia with an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons. However, the mills’ current annual production is 6000-10,000 metric tons.
