A Kazi Farms feed mill in Boda upazila of Panchagarh has been attacked, vandalised and looted, the company said in a press release. After the attack, the management was forced to suspend operations at the mill for security reasons, raising the risk of disruption to feed supply for about 3.5 million (35 lakh) of the company's chickens in the north.

According to the statement, 300 to 400 people gathered in front of the mill on Tuesday noon, marching and chanting slogans. At one point they broke the factory lock, entered and vandalised the premises; three mill workers were injured. The attackers carried off computers, cameras and other equipment from inside the plant. The Boda upazila nirbahi officer, the officer-in-charge of the police station and an ASP came to the scene afterwards and helped bring the situation under control.

The demonstrators demanded jobs for local residents and an end to lay-offs. Kazi Farms says 370 people currently work at the Panchagarh mill, 135 of them residents of Panchagarh and the rest from Thakurgaon and other northern districts, and that no worker has been laid off from the mill in the past six months.

In northern Bangladesh the company has 43 poultry establishments, including 32 chicken farms, employing about 5,000 people. Its total investment in the region is about Tk 2,000 crore, and further investment has been initiated.

Gazi M Shamsuddin, chief executive officer of Kazi Farms, said: 'Feed for about 3.5 million Kazi Farms chickens is produced at this mill. After the attack the management has been forced to keep it closed for the sake of security. If it cannot be reopened quickly, the poultry sector in Panchagarh and the north may suffer.' The company believes some hostile quarter may be behind the attack; it has sought the Prime Minister's intervention and asked for an investigation to establish the cause and identify those responsible, and for steps to restart the mill quickly.

If the mill stays shut, the effect will not stop at the company: the north’s poultry sector and the farmers tied to it could feel it too, because a farm cannot run without its daily feed. The story was written by a Samakal staff reporter.

Source: Samakal