Speakers at a seminar here, seeing a "ruler-miller nexus" behind the current sugar crisis, have urged the government to make sound policies, ensuring their strong implementation, and warned of dire consequences if the consumers were pushed to the wall.
The seminar on "Need for a comprehensive, effective sugar policy" was organised by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) here on Thursday.
City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Enterprises and Investment Promotion Deputy District Officer Malik Zadeen Khan, speaking on the occasion, said that unrealistic and unprecedented hike in the sugar price was the main tormentor for citizens, especially the poor people.
He said that there were some laws regarding controlling the price of essential items, including sugar, in Sindh, but the main player was the Federal government to ensure proper stock of sugar and keep an effective check on its demand-supply balance.
He said the sugar price during one year had jumped from Rs 23 to Rs 43 per kilogram, putting an extra burden of around Rs 17 billion on common man.
Presently, the country was facing a 0.7 ton to one million tone shortfall of sugar, which could be eased to a great extent by using the buffer stock of sugar available with the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), which it had purchased at the rate of Rs 18 per kilogram, he added.
He said a substantial quantity of sugar was imported but instead of bringing it to the open market, it was also being hoarded by vested interests.
Sindh Sugarcane Growers Association Chairman Ghulam Nabi Morai said the government had failed to give the nation a proper agriculture policy, adding there was no planning at any level for the important crops like sugarcane. He said there was not system to monitor and check the production of sugarcane as well as sugar.
He regretted that the sugar price crisis persisted despite some two million ton of sugar had already been manufactured during the current seasons, besides importing a huge quantity of raw sugar.
He charged that policymakers at both provincial and the Federal level were fully responsible for the crisis, besides the millers.
He said an artificial sugar crisis was created to justify the import of sugar, "as import meant hefty kickbacks for stakeholders". The countrywide need of sugar was just four million tons per year, and if some 71 sugar mills of Pakistan could be run on full capacity, they could produce more than six million tones of the commodity, he added.
He accused the government by providing benefits to growers of foreign countries by allowing import of sugar without any tax or duty, and said if the same incentives and benefits were given to Pakistani growers, they could bring a green revolution in the country.
Secretary of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), Sindh, Umar Latif, said that his association through its yearly reports had been urging the government since last many years to give attention to problems of sugar industry, but the government failed to respond positively.
He said that sugar industry was fair and threats of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were unnecessary, adding: "We are ready for giving facts and figures of the industry any time."
Consumer Protection Council Helpline Trust Chairman Hamid Maker said the government, sugar millers, traders and growers were absolving themselves from any role in the sugar crisis, and poor consumer had to bear the brunt.
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