LAHORE: To ensure sale of sugar at the officially-fixed price and its availability in the market, the provincial government intensified crackdown against hoarders and sealed two sugar mills besides recovering hundreds of bags of the commodity on Friday.
The raids were conducted in different cities on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab as the price of the sugar was continuously increasing since last many days and going out of the reach of consumers.
Acting on tip-offs from the special branch, the district administrations along with the food department and police teams conducted raids in Lahore, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, and Rahim Yar Khan. The authorities sealed two sugar mills in Sargodha and Faisalabad, besides seizing 100 bags of sugar in Lahore, 480 bags in Sargodha, 960 bags in Sahiwal, and 6,757 metric tonnes of the sweetener in Rahim Yar Khan.
The seized sugar will be sold in the market at the official rate, said officials of the food department. Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal said that those fleecing consumers by creating an artificial shortage of essential commodities would be dealt with iron hand. He said the sale of sugar on more than the ex-mill price of Rs84.75 and retail price of Rs89.75 per kg would not be allowed in any case.
He directed the administrative officers to take stern action against those selling the sweetener above the fixed rate. He mentioned that officials have been deployed in all sugar mills to keep a check on stocks. Meanwhile, the city administration also raided the wholesale market of the provincial metropolis the other day and sealed some shops.
A wholesale sugar trader in Akbari Mandi on promise of anonymity claimed that after the raids traders stopped buying commodity from mills or dealers. He claimed that traders stopped selling locally produced sugar and its prices also came down from Rs15,000 per 100 kilograms to Rs13,000 per 100 kilograms. However, said no sale purchase was observed in the market today and only sugar imported by the government was on sale.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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