The Ministry of Industries has deliberately created the sugar crisis in the country to fleece the poor consumers, former Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said here on Sunday.
Addressing a news conference at his residence, Khan said that the government knew about the total sugar stocks available with the sugar mills at the end of the crushing season in March and the yearly needs of the country. He said it is pertinent to ask the government as to why 0.4 million ton sugar was not imported in March to meet the yearly sugar requirement of the country and who were those elements who put hurdle in its necessary import.
Khan said had the sugar imported at that time when the sugar was available in the international market at the rate of $450 per ton and government would have to import sugar now at the rate of $600 per ton which would cost the consumer Rs 65 per kg.
He said that there is a similarity between the import of urea fertiliser and the sugar that were not imported when the rates in the international market were low.
Khan said that the government was giving huge subsidy on sale of sugar through the utility stores. It purchases sugar from the millers at the rate of Rs 50 kg but sells it at Rs 38 per kg. He said instead of the utility stores this subsidised sugar was being sold in the open market and some people were making huge profits at the cost of the poor people of Pakistan.
The former minister also clarified that he was neither a shareholder, nor director or an officer in any of the sugar mills of the country as alleged by Minister for Industries Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo and his State Minister Ayatullah Durrani.
In a written statement he said both the ministers had put frivolous allegations on a number of sugar mills, in fact this effort could be construed as an attempt to put attention off recent government created sugar crisis in the country.
He said that neither he was a shareholder, or director in any sugar mill in the country. " Tandianwala Sugar Mills was a Public Limited Company registered in Karachi Stock Exchange and partially owned by his brothers.
Humayun Akhtar Khan who dealt with this problem for more than five years as the Commerce Ministry of the country from 2002 to 2007 said: "under an old government policy the Trading Corporation of Pakistan picked up the additional sugar stock from various sugar mills of the country. These stocks remained property of TCP and stocked in the godowns of the sugar mills from where these were picked up as and when required," he clarified.
He said that the time to pick up the stock and quantity to be brought in the market was the responsibility of the TCP and the government, he pointed. He said 2,40,000, ton sugar owned by TCP was presently lying in different sugar mills of Sindh and Punjab. He strongly refuted the government allegation that the Tandianwala sugar mill has illegally stocked 78,000-tons sugar in its stores. "This sugar is property of TCP and it could pick it up any time without hindrance and the TSM has not flouted any agreement with the TCP, " he added.
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