Six sugar mills shuttered two years ago, but counting loss goes on

The six state-owned sugar mills that were shut down by the government in 2020 to cut costs still remain to be losing concerns. The government closed down these mills, located in the country’s northern region, so that they could be modernised to make them financially viable. But this is not to be so. Where is that renovation work and where is the production of sugar after renovation.

According to a report of a national daily yesterday, these sugar mills — Pabna Sugar, Shyampur Sugar, Panchagarh Sugar, Setabganj Sugar, Rangpur Sugar and Kushtia Sugar — are eating away funds of the state for maintenance of machinery, vehicles and infrastructure. The authorities are also counting costs in terms of utility bills and other expenses.

It is very sad that people who are responsible for running the affairs of the state-owned mills take very little care about public property. We do not know when these shuttered mills will come to operation again after renovation, but the negligence shown to these sugar mills speaks of the general apathy of people in the government towards the need of protecting public assets.

Why should weeds grow in a production unit that was established spending crores of taka just three decades ago? Take for example the case of Pabna Sugar Mills. The report says that it was established in 1992 spending Tk 79.22 crore with a target to produce 15,000 tonnes of sugar annually. The mill not only failed to achieve the target but additionally it incurred a cumulative loss of Tk 400 crore since it started operation. Moreover, machinery including 20 tractors and 122 trolleys for carrying sugarcane were abandoned. Still, the buildings that were built for the office and residence of staff are also now in a dilapidated condition.

Bangladesh is not a rich country, but the attitude of most government officials shows that this country can afford wasting public funds without any end. Even the richer countries that became rich do not show this negligence to their state property and wealth as Bangladesh does. If efficient and sincere management could have been put in place from the beginning, the sugar mills could have been profitable and the country needed not to depend on sugar imports spending huge foreign currencies.