Salt farmers and traders demonstrated on the Cox's Bazar-Chattogram highway on Wednesday (26 February) to demand a fair price for the salt produced in Cox's Bazar. Under the banner of the Salt Farmers and Traders Sangram Parishad, they poured salt on the road at Khutakhali in Chakaria from 11am, disrupting traffic on both sides of the highway for about two hours.

Speakers at the protest included the organisation's president Jamil Ibrahim Chowdhury, general secretary Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury Khokon Mia, Advocate Shahidullah, union parishad chairman Maulana Abdur Rahman and Nurul Azam Shoaibul Islam Sabuj, among others.

According to the Sangram Parishad, Cox's Bazar and Chattogram are Bangladesh's only centres of domestic salt production. About 95 per cent of the salt is produced in the Teknaf, Cox's Bazar Sadar, Eidgaon, Maheshkhali, Kutubdia, Pekua and Chakaria upazilas of Cox's Bazar, and the remaining 5 per cent in Banshkhali and Patiya in Chattogram. Favourable weather last season meant domestic output met the country's demand and left a surplus.

They said that after meeting demand from last fiscal year's production, a further 2 lakh 22 thousand tonnes of salt remained in stock. Production is going well this season too thanks to favourable weather. Salt is produced on about 68,000 acres of land, and the area is gradually growing. The livelihoods of some 10 lakh people, including 65,000 farmers, are directly tied to the domestic salt industry.

The farmers said that although field-level production is good this year, they are not getting a fair price. Salt is currently selling at Tk 220 to Tk 230 a maund in the field, while producing a maund costs from Tk 300 to about Tk 350.

They alleged that salt mill owners have formed a syndicate and, with the intention of destroying the domestic salt industry, are trying to influence various government ministries and agencies to approve letters of credit for importing salt under the name of industrial salt.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.