Narinjara News
No Cane for the Sugar
Mill
Kyauk Taw, November 13: The
only sugar mill in
Since the local cane growers did not provide sugar cane to
the factory, the mill will be closed for this year and during last year the
mill run only for seven days.
Since the government started paying a price for sugar below
its market value, the cane growers turned to rice; hence there is no cane
supply for the mill.
Though the mill was to pay 2500 Kyats
for a ton of sugar cane, the mill purchasing authorities tampered with the
weight measurement, to give less money to the growers. At the same time,
money to the cane growers had not been paid on time. Hence, the cane
growers decided not to grow cane, but rice.
“This is an act of defiance and protest. If they want to
arrest us, then we might as well be arrested. There is no benefits from
growing cane, that is why all the growers agreed not to grow cane, this year,”
says a cane grower from the region.
In
The Kyauk Taw Sugar Mill used to
produce a sweet alcoholic beverage instead of sugar, en mass. Arakanese people used to say that the Sugar Mill was used
by the Burmese government to corrupt Arakanese people
through alcohol. However, the alcoholic facilities were moved to main
land
It has been learnt that Sugar cane is harvested during
October and November, and it is planted in December or January. #