Karachi: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) Sunday expressed its anger over the long pending dues owed to newspapers by the Sindh government and its affiliated advertisement agencies. In a resolution, the council said that non-payment of dues was taking its toll on journalists and other staffers of different newspapers. “Also the non-payment has slated many newspapers for closure,” said the resolution that was passed by the CPNE, with its Vice President Amir Mehmood in the chair. The resolution said that the Sindh government and its affiliated advertisement agencies had earlier assured the CPNE of releasing the pending dues, but to no avail. Recently, Sindh information secretary in a meeting with CPNE Secretary General Ejazul Haq had vowed that the process to release pending dues would begin until Feb 21.” The CPNE warned that a protest drive would be launched against the Sindh government and its affiliated advertisement agencies if the promise was not fulfilled. Prior to the resolution, the CPNE held a memorial to pay tribute to the services of its senior member and journalist late Siddiq Baloch. Faqeer Manthar, Dr Jabbar Khattak, Ghulam Nabi Chandio, Hamid Hussain Abdi, Tahir Najmi, Dr Waqar Yousaf, Amin Yousaf, Abdul Rehman, M Younis Mehr, Adnan Malik, Arif Baloch, Mudassar Alam, M Taqi, Ahmed Iqbal, Ali bin Younis, Amjad Chaudhry, Usman Arib, Bashir Ahmed, Salman Qureshi, Suhbat Birro, Syed M Raza Shah, Akram Mughal, M Hanif, Danish Channa, Khushi Muhammad, M Saleem, Zahida Abbasi, Hassena Jatoi and Bilqees were also present. Published in Daily Times, February 19th 2018.