The decision was taken at a high profile meeting held at the head office of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation in Dhaka, official sources here said.

The meeting decided that skilled workers will be recruited and those who lost job due to closure or were retrenched will be given preference in fresh recruitment, Managing Director of the mill Mahfuzul Aziz told this corespondent.

Initially, about 100 skilled workers will be recruited for doing preparatory work for opening, he said.

"It would not be possible to go into production now as a lot of things have to be done. Production will resume in next crushing session", he said.

But work to assist and motivate cane growers under a 'cane development assistant (CDA)' programme will start soon after reopening, he said.

The mill will need a total overhauling of machines as those remained inoperative for two years and regular maintenance of equipment was absent. All these will be started this month, the MD said.

The government closed the mill on March 31, 2004 due to recurring losses and placed it under the disposal of the Privatization Board fort sale. But no private entrepreneur came forward to buy it.

After its closure, jobless workers and sugarcane farmers staged demonstrations for its reopening. They held rallies, brought out processions and staged hunger strike.

The news of its reopening created a great enthusiasm in the area and people brought out processions hailing the decision.

The mill's closure made about 1200 workers unemployed and over 25,000 farmers abandon sugarcane cultivation.

It was a conspiracy to close the mill, said Abdul Matin, president of the workers union of the mill while talking to this correspondent.

Farmers were eagerly awaiting reopening of the mill, Jinnath Ali, president of cane growers association said.

"I am very happy that the mill is being reopened", said Shamim Kaiser Linkon, lawmaker from Gaibandha-4 constituency.