Rajshahi, Feb 20 (V7N) – Farmers in Rajshahi have protested against the increased fees for storing potatoes in cold storages. On Wednesday afternoon, they staged a protest in front of the Government Cold Storage in Baya area, Paba Upazila, by dumping eight sacks of potatoes on the Rajshahi-Nogoa highway and rolling around in protest. The local BNP also showed solidarity with the protest.

The agitated farmers claimed that the fee for storing potatoes in the cold storages of Rajshahi was previously 4 Taka per kilogram, but it has now been doubled to 8 Taka. They said this increase would cause them losses and demanded a return to the previous fee. The farmers warned that if the storage fee is not reduced, they would be forced to discard the potatoes instead of storing them.

"Farmers in Rajshahi stage a protest against the hike in potato storage fees by dumping eight sacks of potatoes on the Rajshahi-Nogoa highway and rolling in protest in front of the Government Cold Storage in Baya area, Paba Upazila."

After the protest march, the farmers held a street meeting where Advocate Shafiqul Haque Millan, the central committee’s Relief and Rehabilitation Secretary of BNP, addressed the crowd. He accused cold storage owners of forming a syndicate to increase storage fees, which would lead to higher potato prices in the market. He vowed to dismantle the syndicate and prevent such price hikes.

Farmer Ahsan Ali mentioned that although the cold storage owners had previously assured them of reducing the fees after protests, the promise had not been implemented. He stated that after multiple requests for a reduction went unfulfilled, the farmers had no choice but to resume their protests and vowed to continue their demonstrations, including blocking highways if necessary.

"Local BNP leaders show solidarity with farmers during their protest against the increased potato storage fees in Rajshahi."

Previously, potatoes were stored in 50-kilogram sacks for a fee of 340 Taka. However, cold storage owners have now decided to charge storage fees per kilogram due to issues with traders overloading sacks beyond the regulated 50 kilograms.

Fazlur Rahman, Secretary of the Rajshahi Cold Storage Association, explained that the fee is centrally determined and that the new system of charging per kilogram was introduced to ensure proper sack weight and avoid risks to cold storage workers. He also suggested that government intervention to set a fair and reasonable fee would be the best solution.

END/MRA/SMA/