MUZAFFARGARH: Over 100 farmers met teh district coordination officer at his office on Tuesday and complained about delayed payments from the Hajra Rehman Tandlawala Sugar Mills in Muzaffargarh.

DCO Hafiz Shaukat Ali called mill officials to his office and ordered them to resolve the issue.

A mill official said they were short of cash and they had informed their senior management about the situation. The DCO warned the administration to arrange cash or strict action would be taken against them.

Labour District Officer Tahir Gurchani said his department would also take action if the mill did not arrange payments soon. The farmers also complained to the DCO about a mill official who was buying cane through middlemen at Rs160 per 40 kilo instead of official price of Rs182.

They said initially the mill would pay the price of their produce after 10 days but now the payments had been delayed for two weeks.

The DCO said the farmers who had sold cane to the mill on or before Nov 28 would get their payment from the mill administration on Wednesday (today). Farmers have also sought PML-N MPAs` help and have managed their pressure on the district administration and the mill.