Karnaphuli Paper Mills struggles for survival

Karnaphuli Paper Mills. PHOTO: STAR

KPM, one of the biggest state-owned enterprises, is situated at Chandraghona of Kaptai under Rangunia upazila in Chittagong. It made a profit of Tk 3.5 crore last financial year (2003-2004) after incurring loss for seven years.

Industries minister told the authorities concerned last year that the KPM would face the fate of its sister organisation Karnaphuli Rayon and Chemicals (KRC) that closed down in December 2002 unless it could overcome the loss by June, sources said. After that, the KPM was making profit, sources added.

The KPM authorities purchased bamboo from a private supplier of Sylhet at a higher price in July following crisis of raw materials.

The authorities said that non-availability of raw materials in the forests in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) forced them to purchase bamboo from Sylhet. But sources at KPM said that a section of dishonest officials of the mills influenced the authorities to buy bamboo from Sylhet for their personal interest.

It, however, caused loss once again.

The KPM meets its 70 per cent of annual need of one lakh metric tons of pulp wood and bamboo from its own forest in the CHT and there is no shortage of raw materials, one official said preferring anonymity.

The forests, built on 150 acres of land, provides with 35 to 40 thousand metric tons of bamboo and wood a year, he said.

He said that a vested quarter wanted to make the mills a losing concern while around 2,000 workers and officials were struggling for its survival.

Besides, the KPM forests were being destroyed for the last couple of years due to lack of proper management and embezzlement of money allocated for afforestation.

A lion's portion of the money for the afforestation under the department of Kaptai Pulpwood Garden was misappropriated, sources said.

However, KPM Managing Director Engineer Shamsul Haq said that there was no shortage of raw materials at present.

About the purchase of bamboo from Sylhet, he said that it was nothing exceptional and such supplies from other districts also came on different occasions earlier. "We are hopeful of making profit this fiscal and making efforts to this end," he said. Measures have been taken to achieve the target, he added.

Profit of the mills depends on demand and condition of the market that largely depends on import of papers from abroad, he said.