Ctg fertiliser suppliers strike

Around 293 dealers in Chittagong yesterday stopped supplying fertiliser to retailers demanding exemption from the mandatory use of jute bags in packaging.

The decision came after mobile courts fined dealers for not using such bags in Netrakona, Mymensingh and Sambhuganj on Monday, said sources in the Chittagong unit of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association.

The authorities of factories themselves pack fertiliser in plastic bags instead of jute ones, said Mahbubul Alam Khan, general secretary of Chittagong unit of the association, which have around 7,000 dealers and around 50,000 sub-dealers countrywide.

The Chittagong dealers also stopped taking fertiliser from Triple Super Phosphate Complex, Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited, Di-Ammonium Phosphate 1 and 2, Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd and BADC Godown of Port Colony and Dewanhat.

"Our central committee has conveyed the problem to the agriculture ministry. We will continue the shutdown until any solution comes from it,"  said Mahbub.

Md Nurunnabi, assistant coordinating officer of state-run factory, TSP Complex, said the chemical fertiliser might be damaged by air if it was packed in jute bags instead of plastic ones.