Workers from the Mazar-e-Sharif Silo and Bakery have called on government to restart operations after it was shut down recently.

Closure of operations led to at least 200 people losing their jobs at the grain reserve and bakery in the northern Balkh, officials said Saturday.

Head of the silo Mohammad Sadeq Saba said the president has promised to reactivate the bakery at the silo, which he says has now been rented out to a private company.

"Currently we do not have products from the silo; what we do is only the maintenance of the machinery here," he said.

He said the bakery at the silo is also not operational and has been rented out to a private company at 118,000 Afghanis per month.

The Mazar-e-Sharif Silo was built in 1984 by the then Soviet Union. At the time, the bakery was able to produce 25,000 pieces of bread every 24 hours – and employed 170 people.

The silo itself has the capacity to store 40,000 tons of wheat but currently stands empty.

Saba meanwhile said workers hope to purchase at least 11,000 tons of wheat from farmers and store it in the silo in order to use when needed.

Meanwhile, a number of workers at the silo blame government for not doing anything to restart business at the silo and bakery and said this could provide jobs to scores of people.

"Serious attention should be paid to the silo but it has not happened so far. The inactive parts are still inactive," said Qadir, a worker at the silo.

Another worker, Nasir said: "The bakery has to be activated because it will create jobs for the people."