| THE powerful sugar mafia has
outsmarted the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) which has failed
to ensure the sale of sugar at the official rate of Rs72 per kilogram
and the commodity is being sold at Rs80 to Rs100 per kilogram in the
open market. Sources in the CDGL have claimed that the authorities are only focusing on the sale of imported sugar by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) at Rs 72 per kilogram in the open market while getting the Pakistani sugar, hoarded by dealers, at the official rate is still a dream for the public. The reason behind the difference in the rate of the TCP’s sugar and Pakistani sugar is that the former is thin while the latter is thick and called crystal sugar. Ashgar Butt, President Lahore Sugar Dealers Association, said the CDGL had no mechanism to check the sugar price in the open market. He said Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif was not informed properly about the demand and supply of sugar. He said a particular group of dealers was distributing the imported sugar to their favourites in the City. He said the daily demand of sugar in the provincial capital was around 1,000 tonne per day and the supply line was completely empty. He said though the mills had started sugarcane crushing but they were demanding Rs 80 per kilogram from the dealers, adding that if the dealers would buy sugar at Rs 80 per kg, then how they could sell it at Rs 72 per kg. MPA Saeed Elahi, who is member CM’s Taskforce on Sugar, admitted that local sugar was being sold at higher rates in the City. He, however, said that the TCP’s sugar was available at the official rate and there was no shortage. Rana Ayub, President Punjab Sugar Dealers Association, said the reason for sugar shortage was the lack of lifting capacity of the government. He said the lifting capacity of the TCP Karachi godown was around 5,000 tonne while the daily demand of sugar was around 12,000 tonne. He said the TCP should have spread the sugar stock across the country much earlier because the transportation time from Karachi to Lahore was that of about five days. He said the lack of lifting capacity was widening the gap between the demand and supply which ultimately was affecting the public. Mr Ayub also confirmed that sugar mills were demanding Rs 80 per kg and a large number of industrial consumers were ready to buy the sugar stocks at Rs 78 to Rs 80 per kilogram. He said he was ensuring the supply of sugar to the public instead of industrial consumers. He also criticised the local sugar dealers, saying many black sheep were still involved in hoarding of sugar. “This is why we have changed the supply time and on Thursday, we supplied sugar at Akbari Mandi during the day instead of the night,” he said, adding that the act had resulted in availability of sugar in the market for many hours. District Coordination Officer Lahore Ahad Cheema said that the city government was ensuring the sale of sugar at the official rate. However, he also admitted that Pakistani sugar was being sold at higher rates. He said teams were constituted to check the availability and sale of sugar at official rates in the City and they teams were checking around 700 retailers on a daily basis. He said the city government had also started inspecting big stores to ensure the sale of sugar at the official rate. |
Lahore News: Govt fails to ensure sugar sale at Rs 72 per kg
