The owners and managers of the district's cold storages organised a press conference at Joypurhat Press Club to protest against the publication of news containing misinformation about potato stores in various cold storages in Joypurhat district.
They claimed that the reputation of the owners of the cold storages had been tarnished by publishing news with untrue and fabricated information about ‘more than half of potato stored in the cold storages’ without speaking to authority concerned or to anyone. They claimed that by providing that news, the cold storage owners were made adversaries to the society and the state.
The managers of different cold storages in the district including the manager of Punt cold storage in Kalai Upazila, manager of South Pole Cold Storage Tariq Rahman, manager of Palli Himagar Rahul Imam Sabbir, manager of Bottali Himadri Himagar in Khetlal Abdul Quddus were present during the press conference.
In a written statement, local Mollah old Storage owner Tariqul Islam said that potato production from 38,325 hectares of land in the district in last season was 9,46,327 metric tons and the demand for potatoes was 38,000 metric tons.
The potato conservation capacity in 17 cold storages in the district is 1.5 million metric tons but that time the potato was stored at 130,000 metric tons. After preserving potato, most of the potato traders usually sell their potatoes from cold storage in September and October. Although the price of potato is skyrocketing, this time too it did not deviate.
Currently, farmers and potato traders have paid rent and taken about two-thirds of the potatoes stored in every cold storage in the district. Currently most of the potatoes stored in the cold storages are seeds. And the amount of potatoes stored for sale is 2.5 lakh sacks (as 60 kg per bag/sacks).
But a report published on October 15 in a regional newspaper titled "More than half of the potatoes stored in cold storages, but the hourly price are rising". The potato store's misstatement and false information were not discussed with the cold storage authorities. That is not true at all. They say potatoes are stored in the freezer only on rent basis. The owners of the cold storage claimed to have no connection with the increase in potato prices. They also called on journalists to publish true and objective news by highlighting the real picture of potato stocks and marketing in different cold storages of the district.
