Low price, non-payment: KP sugarcane growers thank CJ for resolving issues

PESHAWAR: Sugarcane growers and farmers said on Sunday that they had won their fight for fair price of their crop and they were looking forward to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, to make the sugar mills' owners implement the decision.

The Kashtkaran Ittehad held a meeting here to express their gratitude to the chief justice, who through suo motu notice resolved their longstanding issue of the prices as notified by the government and delay in the payment for their sugarcane by the millers during the current crushing season.

Chaired by Abdur Rehman Khan of Kafoor Dheri, the Kashtkaran Ittehad meeting heaped praise on the CJ for what they said the most-needed suo motu notice of the injustices the millers meted out to the farmers by not paying them the prices notified by the government.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice of the delay in payment by the mills owners to the sugarcane growers. The three-member SC bench led by CJ on Thursday ordered sugar-mills' owners in Punjab and Sindh to clear dues of sugarcane farmers for the ongoing season within five weeks.

Arbab Jameel of the Kashtkaran Ittehad, who was also present in the court where owners of over 70 sugar mills, including Salman Shehbaz, Jahangir Tareen, Mian Amir Mehmood and Anwar Majeedappeared, said the CJ also directed the millers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to pay dues and notified prices to the growers.

"We are extremely grateful to the CJ, who resolved our problem of dues and payment well below the notified rate by the millers," Abdur Rehman Khan said and added: "However, we are now looking forward to the speedy implementation of the CJ's directives by the millers." He requested the CJ to personally oversee implementation of his directives as the millers, he alleged, had a tendency of retracting on their commitments they often made in the court.