Pakistan: Swabi Farmers Protest against Tobacco Company

Source from:  Frontier Post (pk)  01/09/2013

A large number of farmers hailing from different areas of Swabi district staged a protest sit-in on Monday in front of the residence of the ex-MNA and Industrialist Haji Naseem-ur-Rehman for allegedly non-payment of the amount of their tobacco corps by his Tobacco Company for the last eight months.

The Provincial Chairman of Kashtkar Co-ordination Council (KCC) Arif Khan and other council members Azam Kaka and Mohammad Ali led the enraged protesters. They said they had sold tobacco corps worth Rs. 40 millions to the Tobacco Company owned by Haji Naseem-ur-Rehman some eight months back.

They pointed out the officials of Tobacco Company concerned had told them that their amount would have to be cleared within six months but the officials' claim proved wrong and they were not paid the amount despite of passing eight months. "The Tobacco Company owner, Haji Naseem-ur-Rehman has taken few days from us for payment of our amount during a meeting held some twenty days ago" said the farmers on the occasion.
They lamented that they waited for a long time for payment of their amount but all in vain. They added they belonged to poor families and were facing lots of problems to meet the expenditures of their families.

"We are forced to stage protest sit-in in front of the tobacco company owner due to delaying tactics in the payment of our amount of tobacco corps by the company authority" they alleged.

They announced on the occasion that they would carry on the protest sit-in near residence of the company owner till payment of their amount.
However, later in the day, according to a press release issued by the said tobacco company's officials rejected the allegations leveled by the farmers of tobacco against the company.

They said that the company had an organized mechanism of payment and according to which amounts were being paid to farmers of tobacco. They said that they never delayed or used any delay tactics in the process of payment to farmers rather they tried to clear the amount on time. Enditem