Commerce ministry holds meeting today to discuss their demands
The commerce ministry will sit with businesses and industries ministry officials today to discuss the demands of the country’s salt farmers, who are facing a loss of around Tk 200 crore due to resumption of salt import.
Salt farmers have been demanding a ban on salt import, which they term ‘unnecessary’, as many salt farmers have already incurred huge losses following a surplus production of salt in the country.
Leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Salt Farmers’ Association, Salt Mill Owners’ Association, and officials of the industries ministry and Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation have been requested to attend the meeting to be presided over by commerce minister Faruk Khan.
An industries ministry source told New Age that the government might increase the existing 87 per cent duty on salt import to resolve the crisis created by salt imports.
Salt farmers said around eight million tonnes of domestic salt worth around Tk 200 crore had remained unsold causing a huge loss to them because of the ongoing ‘unnecessary’ import of salt from India and Myanmar.
Salt farmers in 2010 produced around 17 million tonnes of salt against the demand for 14 million tonnes, Cox’s Bazar Salt Farmers’ Sangram Parishad convener Ruhul Kader Babul told New Age.
‘But, five million tonnes of salt was imported by businessmen in the name of industrial salt. As a result, eight million tonnes of local salt has remained unsold,’ he said, adding that under the circumstances the farmers, who are yet to offload their stocks, would not be able to go for salt production again.
‘Around 50,000 farmers along with five million people directly depending on the industry are the worst victims of the imports and around 25 lakh people indirectly related to the industry will loose their livelihood,’ Ruhul added.
Salt farmers alleged the immediate past caretaker government permitted salt import to favour some businessmen.
Cox’s Bazar Salt Farmers’ Welfare Association president Mostafa Kamal Chowdhury said the embargo on salt import imposed in 1987 was lifted by the interim government in 2009.
‘The caretaker government permitted the salt mill-owners to import salt in the name of industrial salt from India and Myanmar. Although the salt produced in the country can be used as industrial salt, some businessmen took the chance to make a fast buck by importing salt at a cost much lower than the domestic salt,’ he claimed. The import cost of salt, including import duty, is only around Tk 1 per kilogram while the production cost of local salt is around Tk 2-3.
‘As a result, a huge quantity of locally produced salt remains stockpiled, thousands have lost their livelihood, and there has been growing concerns that salt production will not resume in the southern region,’ Mostafa Kamal said, adding that, if it happens, around 70,000 acres of land in the area would turn into a desert.
On the farmers’ demand for imposing a ban on salt import, a commerce ministry official said, ‘It is not possible to change the import policy overnight as the domestic production of salt does not amount the same every year.’
He said the commerce minister would gather recommendations from the businesses concerned, stakeholders, and industries ministry officials on Tuesday on how to bail salt farmers out of the present crisis.
