Our Correspondent

KHULNA, Feb 23: The People's Jute Mill of Khulna has been closed again making 22 hundred workers jobless. After seven years of its privatisation, the mill authorities declared it closed Sunday night for an indefinite period.

Source said the workers of the mill started agitation demanding increase in wages Thursday night in front the mill gate. The mill authorities called the police to bring the situation under control and tried to solve the matter but in vain. The workers denied to join work without getting their wages increased.

Project Director Montaj Hossain said that there was no alternative to close the mill because the workers did not join the work since Thursday night. He also said that wages in People's Jute Mills were not less than that of other mills.

Kazi Farms took the mills on lease from Bangladesh Jute Mills' Corporation for an initial five-year operation, which might later be extended for another five years, said sources in Khulna zonal corporation office. The government had shut down the mill on July 31, 2007 because of accumulated losses over the years.