Century-old perfume industry in Moulvibazar faces closure
400 attar factories in Baralekha closed, 200 still operate in Juri
An attar producer at his closed factory at Sujanagar village in Baralekha upazila in Moulvibazar.Photo: STAR
About 400 perfume (attar) producing factories in hilly Baralekha upazila in Moulvibazar have been closed due to alleged hassle and harassment by land officials and BDR. The country is missing export of the item while about 6,000 workers have become jobless, producers said. In Juri upazila, about 200 perfume factories are still in operation as their owners can collect Agor trees. This correspondent recently visited Agor growing areas in the two upazilas and talked to farmers and factory owners. Bangladeshi Agor (soft wood of a plant) and Attar (perfume produced from the plant) produced in Baralekha and Juri Upazilas in Moulvibazar are popular items in markets of Middle East, Europe and the United States. About 85 per cent people of three unions in the two upazilas were involved in the century old industry in the area. According to the Attar producers, the perfume worth about Tk 50 crore was exported annually from the two upazilas. November-June is the peak season to extract Attar from Agor trees. The perfume producers purchase and collect Agor trees from different places in the two upazilas during this period. But this year, land officials and BDR have created obstructions in cutting and transporting Agor trees from one place to another. Land officials are obstructing in cutting Agor trees before payment of land development tax. They claimed that according to the law, land owners are to pay the land tax but land officials try to realise the tax from buyers of trees. On the other hand, BDR personnel obstruct transportation of the trees, branding them as smuggled item. BDR seizes Agor trees as smuggled item and file cases under the Forest Protection Act against those who transport those. Sirajul Haque, an Attar trader at Sujanagar village in Baralekha told this correspondent that BDR and local land officials obstruct them when they bring Agor trees from hills. Land development tax remained unrealised from land owners for many years. Land officials now try to realise the arrears from users of Agor threes instead of land owners, Haque claimed. BDR personnel say Agor trees are assets of government's reserved forest and so their felling and transportation is illegal. Perfume producer Suhel Ahmed of Shalbigha village in Baralekha said he was arrested by BDR in September last year while he was transporting a few Agor trees from Shahbajpur in the upazila to his village. A case was also filed against him under Forest Act. He was freed on bail after 20 days of arrest. Producers in Sujanagar said about 400 perfume factories in the area are closed for want of Aagor trees, the main raw material. About six thousand workers of the factories are jobless. Mujibur Rahman Tareque, general secretary of Sujanagar Agor-Attar Traders Association told this correspondent that valuable Agor trees are being damaged due to the restrictions imposed by local land officials. He said they have verbally appealed to Moulvibazar Deputy Commissioner to issue 'clearance certificate' to perfume traders producers. "We hope that the Deputy Commissioner will take steps in this regard to save this century old industry in Moulvibazar", he said. Subedar Nazrul Islam of Shahbajpur BDR camp said border guards always support local traders. But smuggling of timbers in border areas should be checked any how. He said the BDR does not create obstruction to any one having forest department permission in transporting Agor three. Zahirul Islam Khan, Assistant Commissioner of Land in Baralekha said, they have to realise land tax. He however said they will look into the matter so that Agor tree purchasers or Attar producers are not harassed.
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